On a drizzly spring day in Boston earlier this month, three dozen musicians

mingled in the Presidents Library of the New England Conservatory (NEC), one
of the most prestigious music institutions in the country. The weather did not
dampen the infectious enthusiasm in the room. After all, 10 of these musicians
were about to mark a milestone: graduation from the competitive Sistema
Fellows Program, an initiative born out of El Sistema and made a reality by the
TED Prize.

El Sistema is a network of youth orchestras founded by pianist and

conductor Jose Antonio Abreu in 1975. Officially called the National System of
Youth and Children Symphony Orchestras of Venezuela, El Sistema (the
system) teaches orchestral instruments to Venezuelan children from poor and
crowded barrios. In some cases the kids become income-earning musicians
(like LA Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel); but in all cases kids learn
lessons about citizenship, responsibility and working together. In 2009,
Abreu won the TED Prize and wished to bring El Sistema to the United States.
He proposed a training program to equip 50 young musicians to lead youth
orchestras in their communities. The 10 Fellows about to graduate represented
the programs final class of musicians trained not just to play, but to lead, plan,
fundraise and create sustainable local music programs.

The energy and excitement were palpable as the soon-to-be graduates

munched on Middle Eastern food and talked with Fellows from previous years,
who came from as far away as Alaska to support the final class. The 50 Fellows
are a tight-knit group, bonded by their love of music, but also by the fact that
theyd endured a challenging 9-month fellowship; the impact was clear even as
they struggled to put the experience into words. The general consensus was
that the program grew them in more ways than they could have expected.

One of the things I realized here is that being a musician, you have to know
more than just how to play your instrument, said Laura Jekel, a cellist who
joined the Sistema Fellows Program in 2010. That never came up for me in any
of my conservatory training in the past. It was always just play, play, play.

The Sistema Fellows Program, housed at the NEC, was indeed about more
than musicianship. The intensive curriculum focused on leadership and
community development, and included a monthlong residency in Venezuela.
During this residency, the Fellows saw El Sistema in action and got to know
Abreu.

Abreus vision for El Sistema, too, is about more than making music his
vision has always been more about creating community. For him, an orchestra
brings people together, and the US-based Sistema Fellows are ambassadors for
his big-picture thinking. They 50 of them landed in the program because of their
passion for playing music, teaching music and using music to foster
understanding between people of diverse backgrounds.

Ive always had a real interest in combining music with social change and a
passion for building strong communities, even in high school, said Andrea
Landin, a California native and cellist who graduated from the program last year.
I would like to see orchestras better reflect the community, and move away from
this idea that its a niche thing. An orchestra should be seen as a resource, not
as an elite institution.

A year after graduating, Landin is now the Education Manager at New West
Symphony Harmony Project in Ventura, California, which teaches music to 95
at-risk students. They practice in a funky art space, peppered with artwork by
local artists, and join up with local organizations to put on jazz jam sessions.

Meanwhile, cellist Jekel is relishing working with kids in Ohio, where she is the
Program Director at Music for Youth in Cincinnati. I live in the same
neighborhood where my program is, and I love seeing kids who are in the
program walking up and down the street or in the supermarket with their
families, she said. Its not outreach at all. I feel like Im part of the community;
Im just part of the neighborhood.

The graduation ceremony began in the cozy quarters of the NEC. During the
two-hour ceremony, each 2014 Fellow took a turn at the podium, sharing a
memory of the past year. There was a mixture of laughter and crying, and a
flurry of inside jokes.

Eriel Huang, about to graduate, teared up as she gave her graduation speech,
with her mom watching from Cape Town via Skype. Huang, who was born in
Taiwan and raised in South Africa, played the electric violin in a touring band
before joining the program. Music for me has always been about sharing. It was
never about the performance, but about bringing music to all types of
communities and being able to share in that joy, she said. Through the Fellows
program, she developed an interest in mediation and diplomacy, and hopes to
pursue a career in cultural diplomacy, possibly at the United Nations.

In the halls of the New England Conservatory, the distant sound of an aria from
a Bellini opera blends with a Mozart sonata being brought to life by a student on
a Steinway. In a place like this, its easy to think of music as just playing at a
higher level, but we want to use it for another purpose, said Alvaro Rodas, a
native of Guatemala and 2010 Fellow who plays percussion.

Rodas now runs the Corona Youth Music Project in Queens, New York. The
program is for children between the ages of 4 to 14, and begins with a pre-
orchestra semester, in which kids use plastic buckets as drums. Chorus
classes at the program are taught in English, though the kids predominantly
speak Spanish.

In Venezuela, El Sistema has grown exponentially over its 40-year history. It

now includes 685 youth, child and infant orchestras with more than 400,000
young people getting a free classical music education. In the United States, this
idea is just starting to take off, thanks to Abreus TED Prize wish. These
Sistema Fellows are working with at-risk communities in 20 cities. In 2010,
when the first class of Fellows entered the field, their programs served about
600 children. Today, the Fellows work with more than 5,000 children through
their programs. And with the final class, the number will continue to grow.

The five-year fellowship program may have run its course, but growth for this
idea is still very much a possibility. One intriguing thought for the Fellows is that
a child in their program may be inspired to do this kind of work, continuing the
cycle of growth. I would love to see my program become self-sustaining in the
way that the kids grow up and come back and teach. I want to create a culture
of giving back, said Landin, as she runs her fingers along her cello case.

The NEC hopes to continue the momentum of the program as well. Theyve
created the Sistema Fellowship Resource Center, dedicated to the ongoing
training of the programs alumni.

One interesting byproduct of Fellowship is that its allowed for cross-cultural

exchanges between the US and Venezuela, with the El Sistema program
counterparts in both countries talking to each other and working together to
ensure the programs sustainability. At the graduation, Rodrigo Guerrero,
Deputy Director of International Development at the Fundacion Musical Simon
Bolivar, which runs El Sistema, clinked plastic cups of soda with the Fellows.
Seeing the Fellowship come to an end is sad. But its also a moment of great
pride for all the institutions involvedknowing that this field has been created
and that its growing every year, says Guerrero. Thousands of children around
the US are getting musical instructionwith the idea of social action, of utilizing
music as way to bring communities and families together, of engaging them
actively in the community.

As the Fellows stepped to the podium one by one to deliver their graduation
speeches, their passion beamed through. Each sounds thoroughly excited to
spread the magic of music as far as it can go. Abreus TED Prize wish, put
simply, was to teach 50 passionate people how to influence lives through music.
The only question is how many theyll teach from here.

O venezuelano Jos Antonio Abreu (71) criou h 30 anos em seu pas um programa
de formao musical para crianas desfavorecidas chamado El Sistema. Em trs
dcadas de existncia, a iniciativa tornou-se conhecida mundialmente no apenas
por melhorar a posio social de centenas de milhares de crianas, mas tambm por
formar orquestras e regentes de nvel internacional.
Abreu, compositor, economista, poltico, ativista e educador tido como uma figura
inspiradora e um visionrio. Para Ilona Schmiel, diretora do Festival Beethovenfest,
ele personifica o mote do festival em 2010, que "Utopia e liberdade na Msica".
Em entrevista Deutsche Welle, Abreu fala sobre a origem do programa, como ele
foi levado a outros pases e sobre a criao de um coral ibero-americano.
Deutsche Welle: Qual era a ideia inicial e quais foram as primeiras
experincias com El Sistema?
Jos Antonio Abreu: Primeiramente tratou-se de promover a
educao musical na Venezuela e alcanar um patamar para
crianas e jovens, para que pudessem trabalhar e fazer
msica em conjunto.
Fazer msica em conjunto significa que na orquestra se forma
uma pequena comunidade ou sociedade, que ir trazer
inspirao atravs de objetivos nobres. Era preciso estar em
condies de se unir com comunidades musicais e orquestras
de diferentes estados. Isso ns conseguimos nas capitais dos
24 estados da Venezuela.
O nmero de crianas que chegam at ns atravs da msica
s comparvel ao interesse normalmente despertado pelo
esporte. Atualmente trabalhamos com 350 mil crianas e
jovens em todo o pas, ou seja, atingimos 300 mil famlias. A
criana torna-se um exemplo em casa, no seu bairro e na sua
comunidade. Por isso este projeto to social.
Como o senhor conseguiu atrair crianas de situaes to
difceis, de ambientes onde predomina a violncia, onde pais e
vizinhos no dispem de tempo, pois precisam trabalhar para
sustentar a famlia?
preciso superar muitas barreiras. Mas essa luta inevitvel.
Por isso nosso lema "Fazer msica e lutar". Precisamos ser
fortes, ser persistentes e determinados, para que nossos
jovens regentes e maestros assumam a responsabilidade e no
se deixem intimidar.
Para isso necessria a participao do Estado, que garante
esse direito fundamental a seus jovens cidados.
Desde 2004 a Orquestra Jovem da Venezuela participa todos
os anos do festival Beethovenfest. Como se deu este contato?
A diretora do Beethovenfest nos contatou, entendeu o impacto
do nosso trabalho e nos abriu as portas do Beethovenfest.

Maestro Gustavo Dudamel formou-se atravs do programa 'El Sistema'

Que frutos resultaram desse trabalho conjunto?

Naquele tempo nosso jovem e sensacional regente Gustavo Dudamel pde dar
incio sua extraordinria carreira. Sua performance aqui [em Bonn] foi sua estreia
internacional. Quando Claudio Abbado, ento diretor artstico da Filarmnica de
Berlim, tocou em Caracas, ouviu nossa orquestra e nos convidou para tocar na
Filarmnica.

Abbado iniciou um intercmbio, o que levou a uma troca constante entre a

orquestra jovem venezuelana e a Filarmnica de Berlim. Desde ento importantes
regentes nos visitam o ano todo e do cursos.

Existem outras ligaes com Bonn, cidade de Beethoven?

Na primeira vez que nossa orquestra esteve na Alemanha, pudemos visitar o

museu Casa de Beethoven. Esta foi uma experincia emocional, intelectual e
artstica, que no se pode expressar com palavras. Pode-se dizer que a orquestra
tem seu corao tambm em Bonn.

Agora veio uma segunda gerao se apresentar no Beethovenfest: a orquestra

sinfnica de Tersa Careno, cujos msicos tm em mdia 15 anos.

Quais os princpios fundamentais do El Sistema?

preciso fazer msica todos os dias. Em segundo lugar, a orquestra precisa se

superar. Isso significa para ns desenvolver um orgulho nacional, no sentido da
autoestima.

Terceiro: quando se estabelece um sistema de educao musical to amplo corre-

se o risco de perder qualidade. Isso s pode ser evitado quando realmente se
concentram as foras para obter qualidade. Para isso necessrio se submeter a
parmetros internacionais.

El Sistema tambm serviu de modelo em outros pases, como, por exemplo, para a
criao em So Paulo da Sinfnica Helipolis, que se apresentou no Beethovenfest
a convite da Deutsche Welle. O senhor conhece esse trabalho?

A Sinfnica Helipolis uma orquestra memorvel, que tambm tem um

componente social muito forte. Conhecemos tambm alguns maestros que
trabalharam com essa orquestra ou que se formaram l, pelos quais tenho muita
estima.
E os msicos que no chegam at o topo? Tambm tm algum benefcio social?

Estudos de longo prazo mostram que uma criana que participa de uma
orquestra automaticamente obtm melhores resultados na escola. Alm disso,
est comprovado que as cidades onde temos orquestras tm menos violncia e
consumo de drogas.

Qual ser a continuidade do El Sistema? Que metas o senhor traou?

Gostaria que cada vez mais crianas no mundo tivessem a possibilidade de

receber educao musical. Com jovens da Amrica Latina, Caribe, Espanha e
Portugal fundamos uma orquestra juvenil ibero-americana.

Como prxima etapa vir a criao de um coral ibero-americano. Em seguida,

pretendemos promover encontros regulares com orquestras de jovens da Europa,
da sia e da Austrlia ou com jovens orquestras do Egito, Qunia, Nambia e
frica do Sul.

Entrevista: Rick Fulker (mda)

Reviso: Carlos Albuquerque

Chris Anderson: Lets now see the extraordinary speech that we captured a couple
weeks ago.

(Music)

Jose Antonio Abreu: My dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, I am overjoyed today at
being awarded the TED Prize on behalf of all the distinguished music teachers, artists
and educators from Venezuela who have selflessly and loyally accompanied me for 35
years in founding, growing and developing in Venezuela the National System of Youth
and Childrens Orchestras and Choirs.

Since I was a boy, in my early childhood, I always wanted to be a musician, and, thank
God, I made it. From my teachers, my family and my community, I had all the
necessary support to become a musician. All my life Ive dreamed that all Venezuelan
children have the same opportunity that I had. From that desire and from my heart
stemmed the idea to make music a deep and global reality for my country.
From the very first rehearsal, I saw the bright future ahead. because the rehearsal meant
a great challenge to me. I had received a donation of 50 music stands to be used by 100
boys in that rehearsal. When I arrived at the rehearsal, only 11 kids had shown up, and I
said to myself, Do I close the program or multiply these kids? I decided to face the
challenge, and on that same night, I promised those 11 children Id turn our orchestra
into one of the leading orchestras in the world. Two months ago, I remembered that
promise I made, when a distinguished English critic published an article in the London
Times, asking who could be the winner of the Orchestra World Cup. He mentioned four
great world orchestras, and the fifth one was Venezuelas Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Today we can say that art in Latin America is no longer a monopoly of elites and that it
has become a social right, a right for all the people.

Child: There is no difference here between classes, nor white or black, if you have
money or not. Simply, if you are talented, if you have the vocation and the will to be
here you get in, you share with us and make music.

JA: During the recent tour by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela of U.S.
and Europe we saw how our music moved young audiences to the bottom of their souls,
how children and adolescents rushed up to the stage to receive the jackets from our
musicians, how the standing ovations, sometimes 30 minutes long, seemed to last
forever, and how the public, after the concert was over, went out into the street to greet
our young people in triumph. This meant not only an artistic triumph, but also a
profound emotional sympathy between the public of the most advanced nations of the
world and the musical youth of Latin America, as seen in Venezuela, giving these
audiences a message of music, vitality, energy, enthusiasm and strength.

In its essence, the orchestra and the choir are much more than artistic structures. They
are examples and schools of social life, because to sing and to play together means to
intimately coexist toward perfection and excellence, following a strict discipline of
organization and coordination in order to seek the harmonic interdependence of voices
and instruments. Thats how they build a spirit of solidarity and fraternity among them,
develop their self-esteem and foster the ethical and aesthetical values related to the
music in all its senses. This is why music is immensely important in the awakening of
sensibility, in the forging of values and in the training of youngsters to teach other kids.

Child: After all this time here, music is life. Nothing else. Music is life.

JA: Each teenager and child in El Sistema has his own story, and they are all important
and of great significance to me. Let me mention the case of Edicson Ruiz. He is a boy
from a parish in Caracas who passionately attended to his double bass lessons at the San
Agustins Junior Orchestra. With his effort, and the support of his mother, his family
and his community, he became a principal member in the double bass segment of the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. We have another well-known case Gustavo
Dudamel. He started as a boy member of the childrens orchestra in his hometown,
Barquisimeto. There, he grew as a violinist and as a conductor. He became the
conductor of Venezuelas junior orchestras, and today conducts the worlds greatest
orchestras. He is the musical director of Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is still the
overall leader of Venezuelas junior orchestras. He was the conductor of the Gothenburg
Symphony Orchestra, and hes an unbeatable example for young musicians in Latin
America and the world.
The structure of El Sistema is based on a new and flexible managing style adapted to the
features of each community and region, and today attends to 300,000 children of the
lower and middle class all over Venezuela. Its a program of social rescue and deep
cultural transformation designed to the whole Venezuelan society with absolutely no
distinctions whatsoever, but emphasizing on the vulnerable and endangered social
groups.

The effect of El Sistema is felt in three fundamental circles in the personal/social

circle, in the family circle and in the community. In the personal/social circle, the
children in the orchestras and choirs develop their intellectual and emotional side. The
music becomes a source for developing the dimensions of the human being, thus
elevating the spirit and leading man to a full development of his personality. So, the
emotional and intellectual profits are huge the acquisition of leadership, teaching and
training principles, the sense of commitment, responsibility, generosity and dedication
to others, and the individual contribution to achieve great collective goals. All this leads
to the development of self-esteem and confidence.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta insisted on something that always impressed me the most
miserable and tragic thing about poverty is not the lack of bread or roof, but the feeling
of being no-one, the feeling of not being anyone, the lack of identification, the lack of
public esteem. Thats why the childs development in the orchestra and the choir
provides him with a noble identity and makes him a role model for his family and
community. It makes him a better student at school because it inspires in him a sense of
responsibility, perseverance and punctuality that will greatly help him at school.

Within the family, the parents support is unconditional. The child becomes a role model
for both his parents, and this is very important for a poor child. Once the child discovers
he is important for his family, he begins to seek new ways of improving himself and
hopes better for himself and his community. Also, he hopes for social and economic
improvements for his own family. All this makes up a constructive and ascending social
dynamic. The large majority of our children belong, as I already mentioned, to the most
vulnerable strata of the Venezuelan population. That encourages them to embrace new
dreams, new goals, and progress in the various opportunities that music has to offer.

Finally, in the circle of the community, the orchestras prove to be the creative spaces of
culture and sources of exchange and new meanings. The spontaneity music has excludes
it as a luxury item and makes it a patrimony of society. Its what makes a child play a
violin at home, while his father works in his carpentry. Its what makes a little girl play
the clarinet at home, while her mother does the housework. The idea is that the families
join with pride and joy in the activities of the orchestras and the choirs their children
belong to. The huge spiritual world that music produces in itself, which also lies within
itself, ends up overcoming material poverty. From the minute a childs taught how to
play an instrument, hes no longer poor. He becomes a child in progress heading for a
professional level, wholl later become a full citizen. Needless to say that music is the
number one prevention against prostitution, violence, bad habits, and everything
degrading in the life of a child.

A few years ago, historian Arnold Toynbee said that the world was suffering a huge
spiritual crisis. Not an economic or social crisis, but a spiritual one. I believe that to
confront such a crisis, only art and religion can give proper answers to humanity, to
mankinds deepest aspirations, and to the historic demands of our times. Education
being the synthesis of wisdom and knowledge, its the means to strive for a more
perfect, more aware more noble and more just society.

With passion and enthusiasm we pay profound respects to TED for its outstanding
humanism, the scope of its principles, for its open and generous promotion of young
values. We hope that TED can contribute in a full and fundamental way to the building
of this new era in the teaching of music, in which the social, communal, spiritual and
vindicatory aims of the child and the adolescent become a beacon and a goal for a vast
social mission. No longer putting society at the service of art, and much less at the
services of monopolies of the elite, but instead art at the service of society, at the service
of the weakest, at the service of the children, at the service of the sick, at the service of
the vulnerable, and at the service of all those who cry for vindication through the spirit
of their human condition and the raising up of their dignity.

(Music)

(Applause)

CA: We are going live now to Caracas. We are going live to Caracas to hear Maestro
Abreus TED Prize wish.

JA: Here is my TED Prize wish I wish that you help to create and document a special
training program for 50 gifted young musicians passionate about their art and social
justice and dedicated to bringing El Sistema to the United States and other countries.
Thank you very much.

Credit: TED.com
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