El Sistema | Price Hill Will

MYCincinnati is inspired by Venezuela’s national youth orchestra program, El Sistema.
Founded in 1975 by Venezuelan economist and composer Dr. José Antonio Abreu, El
Sistema is a program that aims to provide Venezuelan children with access to
free instruments, intensive musical training and orchestral experience. Over the past 35
years, El Sistema has evolved into a world-renowned youth development program that
uses music as a vehicle for social change. In Venezuela there are currently over 200
youth orchestras, 150 choirs, 180 musical instruction centers known as núcleos, and
extensive music programs for children with disabilities. Since 1975, almost 2 million
children have been part of the program, with over 300,000 students currently
participating. El Sistema’s success in helping children build better futures has led to the
creation of similar programs in over 30 different countries around the world. There are
currenly over 40 El Sistema-inspired programs in the US, and MYCincinnati is proud to
take its place on that list.

Learn more about El Sistema by watching this moving 12-minute news clip from 2008.

Hear Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra – one of the top youth orchestras in the world – play at the 2007 BBC Proms with their renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

This concert turned El Sistema into an international sensation overnight.

El Sistema in the USA
In the past five years, El Sistema has garnered much attention in the US, bringing about the formation of many similar programs across the nation. There are currently over 40 El Sistema-inspired programs, with many more starting every year. This year, along with Cincinnati, new programs are starting in Allentown, Austin, Western Massachusetts, Cleveland and New York.

Please follow the link below to view an interactive map of El Sistema programs in the USA:
http://elsistemausa.org/el-sistema/u-s-a/

Find more information about El Sistema USA on their website:
http://elsistemausa.org/

The Abreu Fellows Program
“I wish you would help create and document a special training program for at least 50
gifted young musicians, passionate for their art and for social justice, and dedicated to
developing El Sistema in the US and in other countries."

This is the wish of José Antonio Abreu, founder of El Sistema and winner of the 2009
TED Prize. The prizewinner is granted $100,000 and a wish to change the world. His
wish led to the creation of the Abreu Fellows Program at New England Conservatory.
Now in its third year, this one year fellowship was created in order to prepare
postgraduate musicians, ten each year for five years, to build El Sistema-inspired music programs in the United States. Aside from the hand-on experience and course work, the program includes visits to many US programs, as well as a trip to Venezuela to experience the program firsthand. Laura Jekel, program director of MYCincinnati, is a
graduate of the Fellowship. Read more about Laura Jekel here.

Watch El Sistema Founder José Antonio Abreu’s TED Talk. The last minute shows him stating his TED Wish:

http://www.tedprize.org/jose-abreu/