Venezuela is fighting poverty and despair with an unconventional weapon: classical music

A 1976 orchestra trip to Scotland was such a success that the Venezuelan government backed Abreu and funded what would become known as the “National Network of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela.” Independent studies concluded that the more than two million Venezuelan children who have been musically trained through El Sistema show higher rates of school attendance and less juvenile delinquency. The poster boy for El Sistema is Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and perennially mentioned to lead one of the “Big Five” American Orchestras (Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia), or major European ensembles. Dudamel remarked: “Music saved my life and has saved the lives of thousands of at risk children in Venezuela … like food, like health care, like education, music has to be a right for every citizen.” More…