José Antonio Abreu - El Sistema

José Antonio Abreu started teaching music to the poor in Venezuela in 1975. Children who had nothing, living in the barrio, stacked homes of brick and corrugated metal, were introduced to classical music at what was to become the Foundation for the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela. Starting with 11 children Abreu began with the belief that music would change the social conditions for the children. It is currently attended by 350,000 children, with 180 orchestras while the the senior youth orchestra tours the world. "An orchestra is a community where the essential and exclusive feature is that it is the only community that comes together with the fundamental objective of agreeing with itself. Therefore the person who plays in an orchestra begins to live the experience of agreement. And what does the experience of agreement mean? Team practice - the practice of the group that recognizes itself as interdependent, where everyone is responsible for others and the others are responsible for oneself. Agree on what? To create beauty." J.A. Abreu