Landfill Harmonics is a documentary about a village located in the Cateura landfill in Paraguay

that inspired the world by using instruments made from the garbage found. Favio Chavez orchestrates this

talented group of kids and inspires them to follow their dreams with music, even if you don’t have the

same resources and availability as other people. The group is recognized throughout the world and began

touring and becoming a viral sensation. Even after harsh conditions such as floods, family issues, health

problems, and more, the orchestra is able to stay strong and persevere to do what they love.

This documentary has told us that the human spirit can be very unified and connected with music,

despite where the music comes from. In the documentary, regular instruments cannot be afforded, so

instruments made from garbage is a great alternative (especially since they work really well). These

musicians in the village were immediately connected to the music they were playing and they felt at peace

and inspired. Even though they did not have access to music like we would, they were still able to feel

unified with their music and instruments. Overall, no matter where the music comes from, the human

spirit can easily feel at ease and connected with the music being accessed.

I think that no matter what your conditions are or how your environment is, there are always new

ways to experience music. Based on the documentary, music can be created by anything and can inspire

people who feel as if they can’t have access to music. Another example of finding music from anything is

Stomp. Stomp is a group that creates music and sound out of everyday objects like brooms, trash cans,

and many other things. Overall, even though your environment may limit your access to “regular” music,

I do not think it will have a negative impact on a student’s musical experience. In fact, it may even be

more positive than negative because it allows opportunities for the students to be creative with new and

unique ways of experiencing music.

Out of the many characters in the documentary with different stories, one specific character that

caught my attention was Tania. Tania is a girl who grew up in a broken household, but learned to stay

strong by fulfilling her passion for music and playing the violin. As a younger child, her father abused her

family and then abandoned them, leaving just her and her mother. Through her perseverance and talent,

she inspired a lot of her friends to play the violin. When the orchestra was going to travel to Rio for a
concert, Favio had to gain contact with Tania’s father to sign papers allowing her to go, and if he didn’t,

she claimed that she would feel upset and lost because she loves music so much. Tania stood out to me

most because she seemed to be the most determined and strong when it comes to doing what she loves.

Through the conflicts and bumps in her life path, Tania I feel is the most inspiring character and I hope

she accomplishes her dreams in the future.

What makes these instruments so special, is that they are made of random debris thrown into their

landfill, but despite them being worth nothing, they make beautiful sounds and become worth everything

to these kids. These instruments could symbolize the village itself. Despite being seen as nothing more

than a neighborhood in a landfill, they are much more than that and they are very talented with their

instruments. A can of paint thrown away is turned into a violin that is recognized across the world.

Despite these instruments being so unique and special, I would still choose a “regular” instrument over

the “garbage” instruments. The main conflict with the instruments in the documentary is that they have a

lot to handle when it comes to fixing them and actually handling them. The main perks to having one of

these instruments would be the price and uniqueness of them, but I feel like the pros of regular

instruments outweigh the pros of the Landfill Harmonic’s instruments.