Level 1: Elementary

About 20 men lined up to enter the national theater in the Peruvian capital of Lima. In
their handcuffed hands were violin, drum set, saxophone and clarinet. By their side stood 50
dark-clothed prison guards who had transported them in a special bus.
The trip was part of a new project to help criminals lead productive lives.

In 2017, Peru started music lessons for prisoners, expanding a similar national program for
young people. Four of the country’s 69 prisons have the program. The goal is to create a
prison orchestra in time for Peru’s 200th anniversary celebration in 2021.
The men, imprisoned for murder, robbery and drug trafficking, are now playing music from the
“Game of Thrones” television show and pieces by Beethoven.

They listened in silence as Wilfredo Tarazona, head of a state music program, called
the session between the prisoners and the orchestra’s musicians “an event without precedent.”
He added that Peru’s prison service, which normally buys locks and handcuffs, had recently
spent more than $150,000 on musical instruments.