Few can deny the power of music to change society in profoundly positive ways. What may surprise many is the positive power that the act of making music can have in transforming young lives.  However, the life affirming future of both classical music and poverty eradication has been taking shape now for nearly 34 years, and is attracting major international attention for successfully lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and despair. 

Enter the National System of Youth & Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela, otherwise know as El Sistema (The System), arguably the most elegantly simple and noble vehicle for positive social change in the world today.

El Sistema is a revolutionary program designed to give children from disadvantaged backgrounds access to musical education, and through music, offer kids with few other options an alterative to a life of poverty and crime. Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu, an economist, musician and social reformer who decided to pursue a dream, founded the organization in 1975 with only one ramshackle room, a few instruments, eight kids and the simple but brilliant idea of using music as a vehicle for social change. El Sistema has since grown exponentially, with more than 800,000 alumni to date, and more than 240,000 children currently participating. Costs for the program run about $80 million dollars per year, the vast majority of which is underwritten by the Venezuelan government. More recently, the program has begun to attract large private donors as well.

Many of the children in the program start young, often as early as age two, learning the basics of pitch, rhythm and harmony from highly dedicated teachers, many of whom are El Sistema trained themselves. By age 7 or 8, they are already becoming accomplished young musicians, having started learning to play instruments or sing in chorus by age 4 or 5. The children in The System develop at an astonishing pace, through 12 hours per day of classes, lessons and guided rehearsals, Monday through Saturday, leaving Sunday off for individual practice time. Classes and lessons are taught at any one of 90 “nuclei” (System Centers) scattered throughout the country, which in many cases take the place of the nearly non-existent public school system in Venezuela.

An estimated 80-90 % of the children in El Sistema come from the poorest slums of Caracas, where they would otherwise loose all hope at an early age. Classical music here takes on a whole new meaning. Radically new, exciting and different from their often turbulent home lives, it represents hope. While it may be hard work, it is novel, beautiful and most importantly, joyful. You cannot help but be touched by the infectious enthusiasm that these kids exude in performance, where they get to see, hear and feel the results of their efforts. It’s a huge boost to their self esteem, and best of all, the effects are permanent; every participant is indelibly marked with the powerful zest for life that is El Sistema’s greatest legacy.

The philosophy behind El Sistema is unique in its egalitarian ideals. Key to that philosophy is a progressive notion of the role of art in society. As their website explains, "In the past, art was a matter of minorities for minorities; then it became a matter of minorities for majorities. Nowadays it is a matter of majorities for majorities and a key element to educating and allowing people to integrate successfully into society." In keeping with this philosophy, El Sistema harnesses the cooperative nature of classical music to help youngsters understand what it means to work together, creating something that is both spiritually and socially uplifting, each individual playing a critical role in an experience that is more than just the sum of its parts. When children experience the beauty and harmony of playing music together, that experience, a profound transformation indeed, helps them realize that same kind of beauty and harmony in the wider world. In this way, classical music is about opening doors for young people; it is a metaphor for life. The lessons learned in the orchestra and in the choir translate directly into the pursuit of a happier, more fulfilling life for all involved. No matter what they choose to pursue in the future, classical music imparts on them a powerful mark, and their future is brighter for it. The discipline, cognitive skills, social skills, and understanding of co-operation and teamwork serves every El Sistema “graduate” well later in life.

While not all become professional musicians, many El Sistema alum have gone on to pursue successful careers in, among other things, medicine, law, business and education. However, El Sistema’s most talented and committed are selected to perform in Venezuela’s most prestigious ensemble, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYOV). For these select few, generally between the ages of 12 and 17, participation in the SBYOV is the culmination of years of hard, diligent work. But that hard work and intense training pays off in the form of masterful musicianship, rivaling the level of many professional musicians.

The SBYOV, under the baton its young star conductor Gustavo Dudamel, has toured all over the globe, performing to capacity crowds in all of the most opulent concert halls of Europe. Their performances of Beethoven, Mahler, and Bernstein, among others, are simply stunning and have been praised by many of the most prominent names in classical music, including Claudio Abbado and Placido Domingo. The first recorded offering “Fiesta” made by the SBYOV under Dudamel, featuring music by Ginastera, Revueltas, and Bernstein, was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2008.

“I wish Mahler were here to see this,” says Sir Simon Rattle, conductor and music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Rattle has been one of the most vocal proponents of El Sistema and the SBYOV, promoting them as models for the future of both Classical music education and poverty eradication. For Venezuela, the program and the orchestra have become such a point of national pride that they have been raised to the status of cultural ambassadors for the country. In many ways, the SBYOV has come to symbolize Venezuelan identity and its commitment to arts education, and the rest of the world is taking notice. A recent CBS 60-minutes special on El Sistema has begun to bring the program to the attention of the U.S., although, predictably, the idea of creating a similar program here has been slow to catch on.

Not surprisingly, the political implications of the United States adopting a Venezuelan idea, regardless of its merits, have been distinctly unsavory to the large majority of Americans. Images of Hugo Chavez and his leftist saber rattling have poisoned the idea for many. However, the political ephemera of our day and age aside, music will always be a power for social change, and as long as programs like El Sistema continue to enjoy the level of success at promoting positive social change that they do, the example will be there for others to follow. Already, nascent El Sistema inspired youth music programs are cropping up around Europe and the U.K., notably in Scotland, with lots of support from local communities, prominent classical music figures and a few governments. In the U.S., there are one or two pilot initiatives underway, but to date, they have found no reliable sources of funding, and are finding it difficult to retain students and staff. Only time will tell whether it will ultimately find success in North America. Although questions about its viability in a country like the U.S. abound, El Sistema teacher Rafael Elster asserts, “If you can help a poor kid here, you can help a poor kid anywhere…its music. Everybody loves music.”

El Sistema’s motto is “tocar y luchar,” or in english, to play and to fight. It reflects the firmness of purpose and dedication that has characterized the conduct of the organization and its members since its inception on February 12, 1975. True to these ideals, El Sistema has continued to promote the use of classical music in the fight for peace, prosperity, equality and artistry throughout both Venezuela and the world at large. Its hard to understate just how unlikely it seemed in 1975 that classical music could be used as a weapon in the fight to change the world for the better. But 34 years on, that change is a reality. As Dr. Abreu asserts, “At its root, this is a social system that fights poverty.” As much as El Sistema has succeeded in fostering change through music, I believe we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. The potential is virtually limitless. It is simply a matter of time.

For more information on the National System of Youth & Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela, please visit their website.

Also, the 60-minutes Special is very informative about the program as well:

William Mogey is a composer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter, arranger and writer currently residing in New York City. He performs with a number of bands in the New York area, as well as with various new instrumental music ensembles. In addition, he writes music in a number of different genres including orchestral, symphonic wind, concertante, chamber, solo, vocal and choral works. He is a 2007 graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa, and a graduate of Kimberton Waldorf High School in Kimberton, Pa. He currently works as a Classical Music Editor at Muze Inc in Manhattan, in addition to his composing, writing and performing activities.

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