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Orchestras Everywhere

Music for Social Action

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The “Cult” of El Sistema Keeps Playing On In a Different Key

December 10, 2016 by Stanford Thompson 6 Comments

[contextly_auto_sidebar] Anne Midgette of the Washington Post wrote a sobering review of Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall’s recent book “Playing for Their Lives”. As the Executive Director of the El Sistema inspired program Play On Philly and founding Board Chairman of El Sistema USA, I would offer a few answers to the questions that are at the heart of her critique: What is El Sistema and what is it actually accomplishing? I define poor from the pre-Latin word pau-paros, which means “producing little; getting little”. My travels around the … [Read more...]

Stanford Thompson

Stanford Thompson is a musician and educator who is passionate about using music for social innovation and serves as the CEO for the El Sistema-inspired program, Play On, Philly! As a trumpeter, Mr. Thompson has performed and soloed with major orchestras around the world while actively performing chamber music and jazz. As a conductor and educator... [Read More …]

Orchestras Everywhere

I’ve had several people encourage me to write a book. I always laugh. My third, eighth, and eleventh grade teachers all encouraged me to stick to the trumpet… and believe me, it wasn’t because they thought I was a good trumpet player. However, after years of planning and implementing an El … [Read More...]

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