Foreign Correspondent hits a high note

If feelgood, positive television is in vogue at the moment then this week’s Foreign Correspondent should do well.

In Caracas, Venezuela where the streets thump with hip hop, Latin rhythms and violent crime, Eric Campbell introduces us to a remarkable project that’s brought more than a million kids into the world of classical music. The National Youth Orchestra System is designed to steer kids away from a life of drugs and crime.

Genesis da Silva is 13, dedicated to her clarinet, practices five hours a day and dreams of one day playing in the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. Despite her family’s poverty, El Sistema allows her to dare to dream of a classical career.

On assignment Campbell saw first-hand how dangerous life is when he was caught up in a shooting and held at gun-point by police.

“The beauty of music is a daily antidote for the ugliness around them,” Campbell says.

The story is contrasted by the finale for clarinetist, Stanley Drucker’s who had a 60 year span with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

It airs 8pm Tuesday on ABC1.