Recycled Orchestra of Cateura

This concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, directed by Favio Chávez, is made up of low-income young people who live in the Bañado Sur community located around the Cateura Landfill in Asunción, Paraguay. The distinctive feature of the group is the interpretation of musical works with recycled instruments made from garbage rescued from the landfill.

The Orchestra was the subject of the award-winning documentary, Landfill Harmonic (https://youtu.be/VNej2z--97E?si=7sBN935kBsDEJvtl), released in 2016.

The orchestra got its start by practicing on instruments made of the trash found in the Cateura Landfill-empty cooking oil cans, discarded dinner table legs, anything that could be, was refashioned into classical instruments. The instruments of the Orchestra imitate violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, flutes, saxophones, trumpets and percussion instruments. Among their repertoire, the Orchestra performs classical music, folk music, Paraguayan music, Latin American music, music by the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, movie music and symphonic metal, among others.

The Orchestra's mission is to provide musical training to children and adolescents who live in precarious conditions and in a state of vulnerability so that they live experiences that help them learn, stay in school, develop their creativity and have access to opportunities to improve their future. The Orchestra's music school gives classes to 300-400 students who study music weekly, for free, in the Cateura neighborhood.