’A way out of the landfill’: Paraguay kids play Mozart with violins made from trash

Jorge Saenz / AP

Ana Meza, 16, plays a violin made of recycled materials during a practice session with "The Orchestra of Instruments Recycled From Cateura" on Dec. 11 outside Asuncion, Paraguay.

By The Associated Press

CATEURA, Paraguay -- The sounds of a classical guitar come from two big jelly cans. Used X-rays serve as the skins of a thumping drum set. A battered aluminum salad bowl and strings tuned with forks from what must have been an elegant table make a violin. Bottle caps work perfectly well as keys for a saxophone.

A chamber orchestra of 20 children uses these and other instruments fashioned out of recycled materials from a landfill where their parents eke out livings as trash-pickers, regularly performing the music of Beethoven and Mozart, Henry Mancini and the Beatles.

A concert they put on for The Associated Press also featured Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and some Paraguayan polkas.

Rocio Riveros, 15, said it took her a year to learn how to play her flute, which was made from tin cans. "Now I can't live without this orchestra," she said. Keep reading >>