About Us - Side by Side Music Camp – Göteborgs Symfoniker

About Side by Side
What Is Side by Side?
Side by Side is an international music camp for young orchestral musicians and choir singers aged 6-23 who want to develop musically and get to know other children and young people with the same interest in music. The camp is arranged every June by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and is the world's largest music camp of its kind. Side by Side puts Gothenburg on the world map as a meeting point for young music lovers from around the world who can connect through music and gain a sense of community and hope for the future.
With music as a unifying force, we build bridges
between people, cultures and continents.
A Part of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

The Side by Side music camp is the flagship of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra's ambitious portfolio of children's and youth activities. As the National Orchestra of Sweden, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra proudly helps introduce children and youth to the world of classical music, by lowering the proverbial thresholds and making music and culture accessible to people of all ages regardless of background.
About Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Inspired by El Sistema

El Sistema music program was started in Venezuela in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu and its motto is "music for social change". The basic idea is that children and young people who have access to musical education and musical practice have a greater chance of developing in a positive direction both as individuals and as citizens of society. The idea of learning by example is central to El Sistema's practice, where those who have reached a stage in their musical development teach those who aren't quite as far along on their journey. A common approach is to play together side by side, regardless of the level of the musicians. This is also one of Side by Side's core tenets.
Music is not only a democratic right but can achieve real change in society and in people's lives.
Camp History

World conductor Gustavo Dudamel has a background in El Sistema and when he became chief conductor of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2007, he brought the thoughts and ideas from Venezuela with him. It was inspiring! In 2009, work began to implement El Sistema in Sweden with the vision that all children should be given the opportunity for positive development through singing in choirs and playing in orchestras. The El Sistema Foundation, the Schools of the Arts in Gothenburg and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra collaborated in this endeavour. In 2014 the first Side by Side camp was arranged as one of Gothenburg's jubilee projects in anticiaption of the city's 400th anniversary.
More Side by Side History
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