12,000 musicians playing at the same time and in the same place, in this case in Caracas in Venezuela. The idea was born in the mind of Andres David Ascanio, 34, director of the El Sistema academic orchestral program, which allows all Venezuelan children, regardless of their parents’ income, to learn music for free. He proposed a challenge to his students: to win the record for the largest orchestra in the world, currently held by a Russian orchestra which had assembled 8,000 musicians in 2019.
It was therefore necessary to find a place to have 12,000 children (aged 12 and over) and their teachers play. A place which, due to the Covid epidemic, had to be in the open air. It is therefore the place of the military academy in Caracas that was chosen, an immense esplanade at the foot of the mountains which border the city, which gave, Saturday, November 13, at sunset, a striking spectacle: 12,000 chairs , desks, instruments and as many pairs of eyes turned towards Andrès David Ascanio, standing on his platform. “If a rope breaks, he told them, do not stop, the same if you get lost in the score, continue from memory, but above all do not stop.“And for good reason, according to the criteria of the Guinness World Record, any musician who stops prevents the record from being approved. So, with a little stress and after a short rehearsal, the conductor raised his wand and the concert has begin.
#VIDEO Unos 12.000 músicos del Sistema de Orquestas Infantiles y Juveniles de Venezuela performaron in Caracas la Marcha Eslava de Tchaikovsky bajo la batuta by Andrés David Ascanio, of 34 años, en busca del record Guinness a “la orquesta más grande del mundo” #AFP pic.twitter.com/dIZCyMOP85
– Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) November 15, 2021
The piece chosen was Tchaikovsky’s Slave March, a 10-minute piece, fairly technical, which all students systematically learn at the academy. All of them, like Andres David Ascanio who discovered music on the piano at the age of four, before moving on to the trumpet at age 11, with which he became a virtuoso, playing for the older ones, from Claudio Abbado to Simon Ratel. Until today leading the music education program for young people. In the middle of such a career, the record, which will be validated in the coming hours, may seem anecdotal, but the chef dedicates it to his students, he who a few years ago described his philosophy to the specialized press as follows: “Everything we do with these children – working on notes, on sheet music, learning to play together – is to create a better future for them, because, even if the present is difficult, it can be overcome by playing, and singing, because music allows you to transcend everything. “