The White Hands Chorus is part of El Sistema’s Special Education Program, which was created in 1995 by Prof. Jhonny Gómez with the idea of integrating people with disabilities into society, through music. This Special Education Program, which tends to over 700 children and youngsters with special needs, has been implemented in the states of Aragua, Falcón, Trujillo, Mérida, Lara, Yaracuy, Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Miranda, Vargas, Táchira, Guárico, and the Capital District. The music education of these children and youngsters is based largely on verbal and corporal expression, and instrumental practice. The purpose is to prepare them to take part in choruses and orchestras; that they play their instruments in the ensembles, and sing in the choruses.

The Banda Rítmica, the Coro Infantil, the Ensamble de Percusión, the Ensamble de Campanas, the Cuarteto Lara Somos and the White Hands Chorus are the Special Education Program’s ensembles. Through these ensembles, all the children, with and without disabilities, have the opportunity to interact with each other and share the same stages.

The White Hands Chorus is the flagship ensemble of the Special Education Program. It was formed in 1999 by Prof. Naibeth García and consists of two areas: one of corporal expression, made up primarily of children and youngsters with hearing impairments, who wear white or color gloves (depending on the work performed); and the area of verbal expression, made up of children with vision, cognitive, and motor impairments; Down syndrome; learning disabilities; autism; and children and youngsters who, without having disabilities, set an example of the right we all have to participate and enjoy equal opportunities.

The idea is to integrate into society thousands of Venezuelans who has always been segregated; to assist them in exercising their rights to participation, and enjoying equal opportunities.

There are 12 White Hands choruses based in the Núcleos of El Sistema where the Special Education Program is being implemented: Barquisimeto, Punto Fijo, Mérida, San Felipe, Duaca, Margarita, Pueblo Llano (Mérida), Aroa, Coro, Calabozo, Carora, and San Cristóbal. These choruses have made recordings for Euroarts label, and television companies of Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany, and Venezuela (Vale TV and Canal I). Hence they have been able to show their remarkable skills both nationally and internationally.

Their performances have been highly praised by world-renowned artists, such as: Simon Rattle, conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic; the Italian conductor Claudio Abbado; the Berlin Philharmonic String Quartet; Michael Landerburger, museum director of the Beethoven-Haus; Mark Churchill, director of the New England Conservatory of Music; maestro Shoji Sato; maestro Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra; Patricio Aizaga, conductor of the Ecuador National Orchestra; Gerald Wirth, artistic director of the Vienna Boys’ Choir; and the Italian opera soprano, Mirella Freni.

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