| 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 will launch its new “First Notes” program in the fall of 2009, introducing music to second graders by putting instruments in their hands as part of a pilot after school program. First Notes is slated to initially be introduced into Avon Elementary School, with a goal of serving 150 students.
El Sistema has proven how 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.
With a similar goal as the Foundation’s current Celebrate the Beat program, First Notes represents yet another VVF initiative that will have a dramatic impact on the lives of our valley’s children.
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