1983
The spanish Padre Ángel Torrellas and Hermana Margarita Navarro found the “Centro Cultural” in the barrio Batahola Norte in Managua with a choir for juveniles and adults.
1991
In the barrio René Cisneros Dorothy Barnhouse, a North American, starts to teach singing and piano to a group of children.
1993
Dorothy Barnhouse gets to know Padre Angel and the “Centro Cultural de Batahola”. Together they start to train flute-teachers and establish lin this way the project “Música en los Barrios” (MelB).
In the same year the German, Luise Scherf, integrates music workshops for elementary school-teachers in the program.
1995
The most advanced pupils form the first MelB recorder-ensemble.
1997
“Flautando Köln”, a German flute quartet, comes first time to Nicaragua teaching the flute-teachers modern flute techniques and pedagogical methods. Since 1997 they have come regularly to Managua.
1998
The Swiss Urs Leonhardt Steiner, conductor of the orchestra Sinfonietta of San Francisco and composer, trains the MelB-teachers in conduction of orchestras and music theory. He had comeevery year until 2005 to continue the teacher´s education.
2000
The German organization “Pan y Arte” is now the main sponsor of MelB.
The teachers found their own ensemble, the “Orquesta de flautas dulces” (recorder’s orchestra).
2002
Another ensemble arises .Beside from the “Ensemble Mayor” of the students exists now the “Ensemble Junior”.
2003
For the first time a European volunteer works for one year at MelB.
2004
Música en los Barrios cooperates now with the conservatory „academía Carlos Tunnerman“. With a scholarship talented recorder students can learn another instrument there, for example violin, guitar, flute, cello y clarinet.
2005
MelB becomes a national project . With the support of the Swiss organization “Cooperación suiza para el Desarollo“ (COSUDE) MelB can give classes in the departments of Matagalpa, Estelí, Jinotega and Rivas.
For the first time the three MelB ensembles play in the “IV Temporada de Música clásica” (4rth week of classical music) in the Teatro Nacional “Rubén Darío” in Managua.
In September , MelB gets his own office in the extension of the Biblioteca Alemana – Nicaragüense in Linda Vista, Managua.
2006
Since January MelB has been part of “Casa de los tres Mundos
The three ensembles are unified into the orchestra „orquesta júvenil de flautas dulces“.
2008
The German volunteer Jens Sommer starts to give piano clases to talented students. Since then, those clases have been continued by every successional volunteer.
2009
The „coro preuniversitario (choir preuniversitary) of the national university of Costa Rica invites the orquestra of Musica en los Barrios. An ensemble of six young recorder players travel to Heredia to Costa Rica for one week to give concerts and didácticas.