Cristina Vazquez, a member of the "Music of Recycling" orchestra, holds her violin during a rehearsal in Madrid. The project, dubbed "Music of Recycling", aims to give second opportunities to discarded junk as well as youths from disadvantaged backgrounds. Photo: AFP
Cristina Vazquez, a Roma teen who grew up in a Madrid shantytown, never imagined herself playing the violin. But today she is first violinist in an inventive orchestra bringing together two dozen other disadvantaged youths, using instruments made from recycled materials.
Her violin is made from colourful soda cans, while a string bass has a skateboard for its body, and drums are made from plastic barrels.
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"Music of Recycling" project
Cristina Vazquez, a member of the "Music of Recycling" orchestra, holds her violin during a rehearsal in Madrid. The project, dubbed "Music of Recycling", aims to give second opportunities to discarded junk as well as youths from disadvantaged backgrounds. Photo: AFP
"I don't know if I will become a professional musician... but I want to keep giving classes to young children," says Vazquez. Photo: AFP
Cristina Vazquez joined the orchestra at age 12 when it was part of the curriculum at her school in the southern district of Vallecas, one of Madrid's poorest neighbourhoods. Photo: AFP
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