Remember to send checks to:

Friends of Children Everywhere

P.O.Box 6904

Kokomo, IN 46904-6904

Mark the memo:  Music Festival

The Casa Bernabé Band

The band program started at Casa Bernabé in 2001 with twelve students and one band.  Today there are three bands and 35  kids involved.  During these years over 100 children have passed through the band program and have reaped the benefits of learning to play an instrument, read music, and be a part of an ensemble.

The lessons in team work, diligence and responsibility have also served the children well in other areas of their lives.

The concert season sometimes starts as early as May, with usually at least one concert a month all the way through December.  Besides the presentations on site at Casa Bernabé, we also travel as we are invited around the city and as far as Jutiapa.  

Besides our own concerts, the kids have participated in the Solo and Ensemble festival that was sponsored by Colegio Maya where the kids get a chance to showcase their individual talent as well as work in smaller chamber groups and the larger bands.  Each year, there were kids from  Casa Bernabé who place high enough to participate in the Gala concert.  

The Music Camp Guatemala has taken over that event and it is now known as the Sonata Festival where the winners get to play on the final concert at the end of the week long band camp.  They are put in chamber music groups and present their piece at the end of the week as well on the final concert.

We have also participated with the BAND ENCUENTRO  hosted by "GenerArte" with all the bands of the city invited to participate and form a huge band which rehearses on Saturdays for a month in preparation for the final concert. Each band was given a chance to showcase one piece in addition to the mass band of over 100 players.

From 2009-2012 the kids from the advanced band have traveled to the USA to do a concert tour and attend band camp either at the Master Works festival or at the Csehy Music Camp.  The impact of those trips was so marked that it became a high priority to offer this opportunity to more of the kids.  

As more kids moved up into the advanced band, the cost of everyone going became prohibitive.  With Music Camp  Guatemala we can take all the intermediate and advanced kids for 1/2 of the price of taking 5  students to the USA.  The camp experience has proved to be important in the spiritual as well as musical development of the kids.

E. Baritone player

Casa Bernabé Band 2017

Casa Bernabé Orphanage

http://foce.org/

Located just outside of Guatemala City, Casa Bernabe is  home to approximately  160 kids who have been placed here by the courts for reasons of abuse, neglect, security, economic problems, or abandonment. 

The children are housed in family groups of similar gender and age, where they are nurtured by house parents and house helpers.  The orphanage has its own school and church. 

Extracurricular activities include soccer tournaments, cooking classes and the band program as well as our Performing Arts Group. 

One of the defining values of Casa Bernabé is that we do not only provide a caring environment with food and shelter, but we also teach the children about Jesus’ life, teachings and His saving grace. 

Director Vivian Douglas

The Casa Bernabé Band program provides group and individual classes for children of the orphanage ages 10 and up.

M. Flute player

D.F. Flute player

D.M. French horn player

C. Clarinet player

J. Keyboard player

M. Clarinet player

M.I. Flute player

D. Flute player

F. Trumpet player

B. Guitar player

R. Percusscion player

S. Percussion player

Because of the community life at the orphanage, it has been difficult for the kids to practice at home so the program gives a time and place for daily rehearsals.    Preparation for extra-curricular musical activities involves extra rehearsals in the evenings or early afternoon outside the regularly scheduled classes.  It is sometimes tricky to work around the other activities such as vocational classes or soccer practice, but we usually find a way.

Invitations to join in with the Cristo Rey Brass Group, the Union church orchestra,  the Messiah choir orchestra, the pit orchestra for Christian Academy of Guatemala, as well as sectionals and private lessons for the Encuentro or Solo and Ensemble Festival are just a few of the many extra-curricular opportunities.  That doesn't count the auditions to go to Music Camp Guatemala, nor the Scale-A-Thon which also happen AFTER regularly scheduled rehearsals.

Not all of our bands participate in each of these activities though the advanced band gets the most performing experience (and travel experience). Often times we will join the intermediate and the advanced bands together. 

As the band program has grown, and Music Camp Guatemala has flourished, the work load is too much for just one person, and so a beginning band teacher has been hired, and many volunteers from teams that come from the USA help out as well.  There is always a need for more help and for substitutes for when Vivian has to go to the USA to renew her visa (usually the month of July and January).  If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact Vivian.

C. Flute player

N. Sax player

C. Flute player

D. Flute player

W. Flute player

C. Bass player

D. Percussion player