In autumn 2015, violinist and orchestra leader Ron Davis Alvarez arrived in Sweden from Caracas, Venezuela as an exchange student. It was a shocking sight for him when arriving at Stockholm Central station he witnessed the arrival of a large group of underage unaccompanied refugees.
After inquiring about the situation of these unaccompanied minors, he decided to find ways to help these young people, once he would have the opportunity to stay and work in Sweden. Then it happened. Ron, a musical talent raised in the Venezuelan El Sistema movement, was soon hired as artistic director of El Sistema in Sweden (2016- 2021) and thus stayed.
In April 2016, he fulfilled his promise to himself and started Dream Orchestra. An orchestra for everyone, but especially for those who needed it the most: the unaccompanied minors escaping from countries in conflict such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Iraq. In a refugee camp in Frillesås, a small village to the south of Gothenburg, he found his first students and here the dream started. Within a couple of weeks, he had assembled a group of 13 students who gave their first concert just a few days after it had started. Neither they nor the tutors of these kids could believe what was happening: they were in charge of opening the concert of one of the largest summer music camps: Side By Side in 2016.
The news that there was an orchestra in Gothenburg that offered these young people a safe place to integrate into society and to start dreaming of a better future through music, spread.
Today, Dream Orchestra has 405 members, 10 teachers and employed administrative staff. It has four locations: Gothenburg, Lövgärdet, Biskopsgården and Alingsås. The activity is organized in association and works in close collaboration with the civic society, Bethlehem Church, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Music and Drama at Gothenburg University, Rosa Huset in Lövgärdet and Ecumeniakyrkan Alingsås.
If I have a bad day the Dream Orchestra always make me feel better. Here I feel like there are a lot of people who cares about me. First of all I learn music but then I also learn how to care about others and how to respect others. I’ve also learned how to be more flexible and confident.