Coro de Manos Blancas (White Hands Choir)
About this Artist
The Coro de Manos Blancas (White Hands Choir) is a world-renowned performing arts ensemble of the Special Education Program (PEE) of the National System of Orchestras and Youth and Children’s Choirs of Venezuela (El Sistema). The Coro was formed in 1995 with the goal of providing children, youth, and adults with disabilities with artistic opportunities, utilizing music as a tool for social development and inclusion.
The Coro de Manos Blancas is made up of over 100 members who form two sections: the vocal section, directed by professor Luis Chinchilla, made up of children and young adults with visual and cognitive deficits, motor impairments, learning difficulties, autism, as well as invisible disabilities; and the sign language section, directed by María Inmaculada Velásquez, made up of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and adults who perform a novel form of movement art choreographed to music. In performance, musical works are joined into a single voice, through singing and sign language, generating new paradigms for the creative arts in society and arts education for people with disabilities.
Due to its groundbreaking work, the Coro de Manos Blancas has performed internationally in the United States, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Japan. In 2017, the Coro went on tour to Japan, which led to the creation of the Tokyo White Hands Chorus by El Sistema Japan.
In April 2022, the White Hands Choir participated in a critically acclaimed world-premiere production of Beethoven’s Fidelio, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Deaf West Theatre, created for both Deaf and hearing audiences. The Choir is performing in the cast of the revival in May 2024 in Los Angeles and on tour in Barcelona, Paris, and London.