Yesterday we drove up into the hills to a shanty town called Manchay.  The living conditions are markedly different to Lima and very definitely 3rd World.  People live in very basic buildings or shacks perched precariously on steep hillsides with narrow dirt tracks leading to the bottom.  Despite this the people seemed happy and were extremely welcoming to us.  We went to visit a "Sinfonia por El Peru" project based in a church.  Santiago, the administrator, told us a little background to the project and explained that the children come everyday.  Most of them do not have fathers as a consequence of the civil war.

They had a small jazz band who played a couple of tunes to us.  Our Big Band then played a couple of tunes to them before we did a massed performance of "Soul Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones, a tune which may be familiar to you from the "Austin Powers" films.

We then heard their orchestra play some Tchaikovsky and some traditional Peruvian pieces.  The oldest players are around 14 and they were very impressive.  Our orchestra reciprocated by performing a piece of Irish music which was also well received.  We were the treated to some very tasty locally prepared food, which we had not expected and was very humbling.  Esme and friends then showed off their Spanish, engaging in discussion with some of the Peruvian kids whilst taking a welcome break from the intense sunshine.

Whilst this was happening the Guitar Group and the Stage Band were performing in the National Conservatoire of Music in central Lima, where they also had a terrific reception.

We all met up again at the Municipal Theatre, where we were treated to a tour of the opulent building (a marked contrast to where we had been) and an impromptu performance of traditional Peruvian music and dance in the courtyard.  Nick Walker did sterling work as our translator, though looked rather shocked when the chief dancer produced a very large pair of scissors, which turned out to be a hand held percussion instrument.  The dances were amazing!

This was followed by our second rehearsal with the massed orchestra with Sinfonia por El Peru in the Municipal Theatre.  We will share our only public orchestral concert with them tomorrow evening.

The day was rounded off by a meal in the Eau de Vie restaurant which is run by French nuns.  The atmosphere was very welcoming and the food very tasty.  Before leaving, we listened to the nuns singing and reciprocated with an off the cuff vocalisation of "La Mariposa" which we have been playing at the end of most concerts.

The end is in sight, but still a lot of music and fun to experience...