Sistema music program ready to 'make a difference' in young Fredericton lives

An organization that offers free after-school music lessons to children will officially open its new Fredericton centre on Tuesday evening.

Sistema New Brunswick has been around for almost a decade. Over the course of nine years, it's grown from a few young people to more than 1,000 participating youth in nine centres throughout the province.

Gibson-Neill Memorial Elementary School, a school for kindergarten to Grade 5 on Fredericton's north side, becomes its 10th site in New Brunswick.

"It's three hours a day, five days a week with really good teachers," said Ken MacLeod, CEO of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and founder of its Sistema program. "The result is kids get incredibly good at the music, so this increases their self-confidence.

"So this increases their self-confidence, their self-esteem. They're part of something much bigger than themselves. The kids are teaching themselves their own potential, … They're so proud and a light goes on."

Social mission

It's the organization's hope that students who acquire those orchestral skills will improve their literacy and grades and gain confidence and self esteem.

We're another tool in the tool belt that enables us to make a difference in the lives of kids and families who would otherwise fall through the cracks.- Ken MacLeod, CEO Sistema NB

"Learning to play in an orchestra, you need focus and discipline or it doesn't work," MacLeod said. "You must respect your seatmate, work together as a team. These are things to make the orchestra work.

"To have a successful life you need those things as well."

Violin lessons

The music lessons are funded in part by the province of New Brunswick and by community partners. Local school districts provide the space and busing.

Sistema Fredericton will be a string program featuring violin.

​Students as young as six can enter the program, and musical ability isn't a requirement to get in.

'Make the most impact'

MacLeod said the program's mission is to engage kids who would otherwise be left out.

"Because we feel they can make the most impact there, and that's where the greatest need is," he said.

"We aren't trying to be the music program for all of New Brunswick. We are a social program to engage kids who otherwise have been left out … We're another tool in the tool belt that enables us to make a difference in the lives of kids and families who would otherwise fall through the cracks."

Sistema is modelled on a program in Venezuela that began 40 years ago and is now a global movement.

The official opening of Sistema Fredericton begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Sistema Saint John Chamber Orchestra will perform at the event. The new Sistema Fredericton members will also perform and receive their instruments in a special presentation and pledge ceremony. 

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