| Thirty three years ago in a parking garage in Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. José Antonio Abreu gathered together 11 children to play music and El Sistema was born. The program now teaches music to 300,000 of Venezuela’s poorest children, demonstrating the power of ensemble music to dramatically change the life trajectory of hundreds of thousands of a nation’s youth while transforming the communities around them.
Utilizing the El Sistema model, the Vail Valley Foundation launched “First Notes” program in the fall of 2009 at Avon Elementary School, introducing music to second graders by putting instruments in their hands as part of a pilot after school program. A year later a “Half Notes” choir was introduced to current second graders while the orchestra continued on with third graders. Now serving 100 students, the goal is to reach all first through fifth grade students over the next 3 years.
The learning process of music in children not only enriches their spiritual and emotional experiences, but also accelerates their learning capacity in other subjects at school, developing and strengthening their ability to relate socially to the fast-paced and competitive world around them.
Several of El Sistema’s graduates now rank amongst the most coveted young talent in Europe, including conductor Gustavo Dudamel and double bass player Edicson Ruiz, who at the age of 17 became the youngest musician ever to join the Berlin Philharmonic.
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