If you don’t yet know about El Sistema, Venezuela’s extraordinary and wide-reaching music program, you really need to take a moment to learn. The 30-plus-year effort to engage young people — especially those at risk — in choral or instrumental performance opportunities has truly transformed the country, its youth, and the role of music in its society. Says founder Jose Abreu on this TED video, accepting the TED prize for his work this month:
“Today we can say that art in Latin America is no longer a monopoly of elites, and that it has become a social right, a right for all the people.”
Drew McManus wrote a series of posts (2, 3, 4) on the initiative back in 2005 that’s still worth a reading. A public symposium on the phenomenon is available in video form here.
But to really get the gut-punch of impact and potential of El Sistema, just watch their flagship ensemble of young musicians perform in the fresh TED posting embedded below (or linked here).
Powerful and exciting stuff.
