It's early morning, and the doors of Mario Castineto's new cultural space, located in the heart of the Belgrano neighborhood, are already open. There, the piano found its place, as María del Carmen Gonzalez, a resident of the southern region who is about 80 years old, donated it to the municipality of Rosario in the hope that it would be played by other hands again.
Maria started playing the piano when she was young. “I started piano lessons when I was 5, and I used to walk two blocks by myself, and I continued until I was 10. But I couldn't keep going, you can't have a piano in my house and you have to have one to practice. So I said okay, I'll buy it.” One day, I was not able to buy a used one until my children got married, 22 years ago. From that moment on, he resumed his passion for music, returning to piano lessons as he had in his childhood, until two years ago, due to health problems, he was forced to stop.
But the pain of this situation turned into hope when he learned about the municipality's program “Let them keep playing”: “It was very painful to leave it because I will be eighty years old, it is a lifelong dream. But I thought, what better hands? I am donating it and I am Grateful for this opportunity. Because when I learned about the program I said: If kids can start from the early years like me, who can't afford it, so that they have a place to practice and continue so that they see where the future takes them, then I will be grateful for life.
The Ministry of Culture and Education launched the “Let them keep playing” campaign in November 2023With the aim of providing tools to groups of children and youth in the city to enhance their growth and development. Through community commitment and generosity, we seek to provide these groups with musical instruments that are no longer in use.
“The goal is to open doors to any girl, boy or young man who wants to join the idea of being a musician,” said Dante Taparelli, promoter of the initiative. “The lack of instruments is the first barrier, so having an instrument for a boy or girl who has started school ensures continuity. This enables continuity.” Idle tools kept in cabinets, often out of affection or memory, are never able to fulfill their destiny again. It is not only the fate of the one who owns them, but also the fate of the one who built them, the instrument maker who made them. And for a city like ours, which is growing exponentially, Citizen commitment is essential to keep this happening.
It is no coincidence that the piano is present in Mario Castinetto's cultural space, based in a house located at 6150 Azurduy corridor, in the Belgrano neighborhood, which was transferred to the Ministry of Culture. For Taparelli, this cultural space “allows the expansion of culture to the four winds, thanks to the loving act of separation made by Mario Castinetto who was a great thinker of the city and who decided at the end of his days that this house should continue to exist.” Like this project.”
“In December 2022, Mario Castinetto donated the house to the Ministry of Culture and in February 2023 he passed away. From there, the development of a project for this cultural space that bears his name begins,” explained Diego Sebastiano, coordinator of the aforementioned space. Mario Castinetto is expected to open its doors to the public in March of This year, with two main projects: the Lutheran School and the Espoma Social and Cultural Soap Shop. “The idea then is to be able to design and keep adding different projects to the space,” he explained.
With this same sense of reciprocity and circularity, the donated instruments are received at the La Casa del Tango Cultural Center, and then transported to the Mario Castinetto Cultural Space: “Since the Lutheran School will be operating there starting in March, the guys are going to repair it,” Sebastiano said. “Instruments they can repair, and with those that are not within their specialty, they will refer them to other instrument makers.”
In addition to the piano donated by María del Carmen, two guitars have been received so far, an antique guitar, a guitar melodica, a flute and a violin, donated to the project by neighbors from different neighborhoods of the city.
Anyone who has a tool at home and wants to donate it for free can do so. In this way, these instruments will have a second chance in the musical formations of the municipal Ministry of Culture and Education: schools, orchestras, bands, musical training places, and others.
How to participate in the “Keep Them Playing” program.
To make a donation, interested parties must go to La Casa del Tango (Illia Avenue 1750). Once the tools are received, they will be adapted at the Municipal Luthery School, a project that will debut in March of this year in the new cultural space of Mario Castenetto.
Each donor will receive a transfer certificate containing their details and the condition of the donated item. Those instruments that can be adapted and used by young musicians will be accepted.
The importance of donating an instrument is to promote the growth of children and youth orchestras, which are not only spaces for musical learning, but also tools for inclusion and employment opportunities for young musicians in Rosario.
For more information about the campaign and to schedule a kit delivery, email: [email protected].
