On a recent Saturday night in La Serena, Chile, an audience of over 2000 offered a standing ovation in memory of a distinguished musician and citizen killed 50 years ago: Jorge Peña Hen, a visionary educator, composer, and social activist who founded the first Children’s Orchestra in Chile and Latin America. His legacy lives on in the Foundation of Youth and Children’s Orchestras (FOJI), the global El Sistema movement, and countless projects around the world that use music as a tool for social change.
Image source: Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio blog, published July 23, 2023.
Born in Santiago in 1928, Jorge Washington Peña Hen was a renowned musician, composer, and dedicated music educator based in La Serena, Chile. He founded the first Children’s Symphony Orchestra in Chile and Latin America, which was unique for its accomplishment of joining children of different socio-economic standing in a single orchestra to improve the lives of underprivileged children. Inspired by the results of the Suzuki method observed in a youth symphony orchestra in San Francisco, California, he devised a system that was innovative primarily due to its groundbreaking social impact mission. Music would be instrumental in changing the lives of children born into unfavorable circumstances, and all segments of society would have a part to play. This collaborative spirit was evident at the foundation of the School of Experimental Music at La Serena, Chile, when he got funding and support from influential people in power from opposing political parties. His inclusive approach to the work joined perspectives that seemed irreconcilable.
In the words of Peña Hen’s daughter, Maria Fedora Peña:
“My father was the founder of many valuable and beautiful things for Chile and its people; things that would change the lives of generations of students and their families who have fulfilled and will continue fulfilling their dreams.”
But in 1973, Peña Hen’s dreams were cut short: following the military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, Peña Hen was arrested, accused of hiding weapons in instrument cases and executed by the infamous “Caravan of Death” on October 16.
In the biography of Jorge Peña Hen, Rebel Baton, journalist Patricia Politzer reconstructs the life and work of the enigmatic figure with extensive research, in-depth interviews, and letters. Politzer tells the story of his social vision, struggles, marriage, music school, and how his death reflects a dark chapter in the nation’s history.
As Chile marks the 50th anniversary of Peña Hen’s death and the military coup, The Global Leaders Institute recently caught up with Patricia Politzer in an interview. Politzer shared insights on the musician’s legacy and art’s role in political autocracy.
You mention that your investigation of Jorge Peña Hen started because his name was silenced for decades after his death. What does it mean to break this silence?
I was shocked to learn that a musician was executed by the Chilean dictatorship in 1973.
What could he have done to deserve such punishment? At the start of my investigation -40 years after his murder- nobody seemed to know maestro Peña Hen.
Even in La Serena, where he did his most important work, his name was too dangerous to say. He was a distinguished citizen in his town who received public awards for his contribution to the arts.
In this context, breaking the silence was a challenge and a priority objective. It felt like chiseling a marble slab to give the maestro new life. As the investigation progressed, hundreds of voices gradually confirmed his musical work and social impact. In the year of the 50th anniversary of the military coup, Jorge Peña Hen’s legacy was honored in La Serena with a concert in a concert featuring 13 orchestras composed of over 470 children and young players. Without a doubt, Jorge Peña Hen is alive more than ever. He died at 45; imagine what he could have accomplished if he had not been killed!
Many say that Jorge Peña Hen’s work was the precursor of El Sistema. Your book shows how his techniques influenced Caracas, Venezuela, where some of his musicians fled during the dictatorship. You illustrate how these exiles planted the seed of the musical movement that became El Sistema. How does this history add depth to the rise of El Sistema in the world?
I think El Sistema owes a lot to Jorge Peña Hen. Maestro José Antonio Abreu grew it in extraordinary ways. Still, the seed came from three Chilean musicians who escaped their country because of their work with Jorge Peña Hen and their mission to use music to fight poverty in Chile.
In 1964, Jorge Peña Hen looked for the poorest kids in La Serena to teach them music. By 1975, Abreu saw the power and potential of this idea, and he had the money and the skills to make it huge (Venezuela had a lot of oil wealth then). He was a great musician, economist, and politician who convinced those in power.
Venezuela was not the only place where that Chilean seed went. It also reached Costa Rica, Honduras, and Argentina. It became a Latin American phenomenon, with El Sistema as its star and Gustavo Dudamel as its most shining advocate.
Jorge Peña Hen’s anniversary coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Chilean military coup and dictatorship. What do you think this recognition of Peña Hen’s work shows about the relationship between art and autocracy?
Dictatorships are afraid of art in all its forms. In Chile, Pinochet censored books for ten years. He required publications to be approved before printing. But I think dictatorships cannot stop art. Many Chilean artists bravely resisted what was called the “cultural blackout.” They expressed their feelings and thoughts through music, theater, literature, and visual arts.
Art is a powerful weapon against oppression. Art always finds a way.
Are you planning to write more books about artists and art movements?
Maybe. My passions drive my books; they express something that captivates me and makes me restless until I can write it down. I have some ideas, but nothing has kept me awake yet.
About Patricia Politzer
Patricia Politzer is a Chilean journalist and writer. She has worked as a news director, a communication director, a president of the National Television Council, and a journalism professor. She has been involved in various NGOs and received the Lenka Franulic Award in 2017. She has a regular column at El Mostrador and ran for a spot in the Constituent Assembly of Chile in 2020. Her books include Fear in Chile: Lives under Pinochet, Altamirano, and Bachelet in the Land of Men.
Did you know?
On July 11, 2012, The Orchestra of the Americas offered tribute to Jorge Peña Hen in La Serena’s monumental coliseum, recognizing his legacy as the precursor of the Latin American movement of youth orchestras as an instrument of social development through music learning.
