“El Sistema”… Could It Be Music To Our Ears?

Two years into my teaching career, my students are still constantly surprising me.  Sometimes with pleasant surprises, like bringing me the gluten-free cereal their parents accidentally bought (and they now absolutely refuse to eat), and sometimes with not so pleasant surprises, like writing the new Meek Mills lyrics all over my newly washed desks.   Last Friday, when I supervising my student wash up those very same lyrics after school, I had her listening to an old classical play list of mine from college, thinking that it would be some additional, subtle form of punishment.  Instead, she confided in me how much she had always wished that she knew how to play an instrument—growing up, she had never had the opportunity.

This experience made me flash back to a conversation I once was having with my musician-father, who was singing the praises of the semi-radical education reform movement in Venezuela, known as “El Sistema.”  Started back in the late 1970’s, early 80’s, this movement was started by the famous Venezuelan musician, Jose Antonio Abreu, with the mission to provide impoverished children in Venezuela with an after school alternative to the street life.  Now with almost 400,000 children in programs in Venezuela alone, El Sistema is a government-funded social program that gives these hundreds of thousands of children free musical instruction for three to four hours, six days a week after school.  These children have exposure to many potentially life changing opportunities, such as travelling globally and playing with the National Simon Bolivar Orchestra. 

Now, I know that it is not some revolutionary idea to say that music can have a positive impact on children’s lives, but I do find it truly inspiring to see a nation making such a huge investment in instilling music as a positive force in children’s lives.  I couldn’t help but wonder—what if the United States were willing to invest that much in Baltimore’s youth?

A 60 Minutes piece on El Sistema:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-4009335.html