Al Mismo Tempo

Al Mismo Tempo

 

Al-Mismo-Tempo

When a few kids from a poor neighbourhood of Barcelona turned up at a tiny music workshop in their local civic centre, they thought that their new teacher Pablo, was crazy. Not only was he determined to turn these kids into classical musicians, but he also told them that; he was going to bring in hundreds more like them to do the same thing, that he would find instruments for all of them, that he would train everyone of them, that he would never turn a child down, no matter their age, background, language, that he wouldn’t charge them a single penny ever, and that he would turn them into a huge orchestra that would perform in some of the most illustrious settings in city.

He doesn’t look so crazy now. With only a few of helpers, he has classical musicians out of more than 200 children, and turned his project into a giant family. He works with all types of kids – Kids who don’t speak a word of spanish, kids with disabilities, kids struggling to cope with absent parents, or traumatised by violent pasts. For each of them he sees the orchestra as a positive force, helping them to move forward in their lives within this all inclusive musical community.

But things aren’t always straightforward. Pablo doesn’t want to just run an orchestra, he wants to run one recognised for excellence, regardless of the background of the participants or the resources he has to work with. He wants everyone who leaves the orchestra to join the adult world to take something from it that helps them have happy, healthy life, musical or not. He wants to give something to every child he works with. And, at the same time, he has to six weeks to bring together their biggest performance yet. Al Mismo Tempo follows Pablo and the children he works with as each of them try to reach their own personal, and musical, high notes.