The Italy-based World Youth Orchestra (WYO) Foundation has gathered some 80 orphaned and abandoned children in a musical and art program aimed at promoting emotional, individual, and social growth.
Officially launched in January 2024, the WYO4Children project is part of a global program that seeks to “develop the artistic, musical, and theatrical language of the local tradition,” according to the Foundation.
Adolfo Vannucci, president of the WYO Foundation, said the organization “researches and enhances local cultural traditions, implementing artistic experiences that link tradition to contemporaneity, nourishing pedagogy, social life, and individual growth with new blood.”
WYO Foundation has partnered with the Missionaries of Charity of Bin Dhuong which will provide the facility for the eight-month musical program.
The program features bi-monthly recitals and concerts, culminating in a final event in September. Organizers said the finale will enable the children to showcase their progress not just in music, but also in other areas, fostering stronger connections with the welcoming community.
Maestro Damiano Giuranna, conductor of the World Youth Orchestra, said the “ambitious” project “can only be realized through the creation of solid links with the local social fabric.”
He expressed gratitude for the support of the religious sisters in Bin Dhuong, which he said “makes the local community an active part of this initiative”.
Enrico Padula, Consul General of Italy in Vietnam, described music as a “universal language that brings together different cultures and transmits emotions and sensations that transcend single realities”.
Between Italy and Vietnam, he said it represents “a fundamental bridge of dialogue and understanding that allows [overcoming] geographical distances”.
The organizers, with the help of Catholic priest Dominic Nguyen, selected five young Vietnamese music teachers who will train the choir, teach musical instruments, and guide the participants throughout the program.
The World Youth Orchestra was founded on Sept. 15, 2001, serving as a beacon of cultural diplomacy and peacekeeping efforts.
