Venezuela to Expand Its El Sistema Music Program

[Catherina]

Venezuela to Expand Its El Sistema Music Program

By Tamara Pearson


Jose Abreu (left) and President Nicolas Maduro (VTV)

Merida, May 22nd 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Founder of Venezuela’s world famous El Sistema music program, Jose Abreu, met with President Nicolas Maduro last night to discuss expanding the program. They agreed on a project called Musical Program Simon Bolivar, which will aim to have one million Venezuelan youth and children playing musical instruments.

Abreu thanked the government for its support for the project. He founded the Simon Bolivar Symphonic Orchestra in 1975, as well as the youth orchestra and the state foundation for orchestras, which together make up El Sistema. The music program director is also a doctor of economics, composer, musician, activist, teacher, and conductor.

El Sistema aims to use music as a method of social and intellectual development, and focuses particularly on children from poor neighbourhoods, with the aim of also preventing crime. It has special programs for children with disabilities, and has a White Hands Choir for deaf children.

The El Sistema model has been adopted around Latin America and Europe. It is funded by the Venezuelan government, and currently involves around 350,000 children and youths.

The new project entails providing children and orchestras with musical instruments, fitting out abandoned or unused spaces for teaching music, and creating new regional headquarters for El Sistema.

Communications minister Ernesto Villegas said the government would lend its “full moral and economic support” to the project. It forms part of the government’s macro project, the Movement for Peace and Life, which aims to combat high crime and violence levels.

“With this project, we’re going to put the National System of Orchestras and Youth Choirs of Venezuela at the forefront. It will begin straight away, in stages, with the support of the government,” Abreu said.

He added that Venezuela’s well known conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, will be “fully involved in the super massive project”.

Published on May 22nd 2013 at 3.55pm

This work is licensed under a Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Creative Commons license

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9511

[rdharma]

1. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

PS - Turn the speakers UP!

[Catherina]

2. If you like that, this video from Paraguay may make you cheer even more

Awe-inspiring!

A longer version

[rdharma]

3. Beautiful!

[Peace Patriot]

6. I'd never heard of this one. Thanks for posting it!

Mozart on landfill instruments! My God, that is so wonderful!

I love the point made in the vid, too: We shouldn't carelessly throw trash away, nor people.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Beautiful! Such good news. Thank you so much. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

5. Awesome!

nt

[Peace Patriot]

7. On a political note, the Chavez-Maduro government is responsible for...

...dramatically expanding the awesome Venezuelan Children's Orchestra program (El Sistema) to 250,000 children and 15,000 teachers, and building them a beautiful new concert hall in Caracas.

The Venezuelan Children's Orchestra was the toast of Europe and England. Classical music lovers were flabbergasted at their skill, and their energetic, joyful new interpretations of classical music. One critic said that they "are the saviors of classical music."

These are mostly street kids, the poorest of the poor, whose families suffer the kind of intractable poverty that has escaped the Chavez government's 70% overall reduction of extreme poverty. They play classical music like the angels. It is astonishing. Kids as young as five years old.

El Sistema's founder has said that the music program is designed to give poor children experiences of cooperation and social cohesion by playing classical music together in an orchestra.

What a beautiful idea! And what is even more beautiful is that it WORKS--both socially and artistically--and that it is growing by leaps and bounds in Venezuela and is catching on worldwide.

Cooperation.
Social cohesion.

My, my my.