‘El Sistema’, a music education program that survives in Venezuela

When members of the famous Venezuelan music education program ‘El Sistema’ set a record as the largest orchestra in the world, baker Noel Montilla felt immense joy. “I almost cried when I saw that among those thousands of children were my two sons. It was very nice, really very nice ”, says Montilla.

‘El Sistema’ creates over and over again a ray of hope in the South American country, plunged into a severe crisis. For example, when on November 13 some 8,573 musicians from the youth orchestra performed the Slavic March by Piotr Tchaikovsky.

The National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela has more than one million membersAmong them, some 350 children and young people from the populous La Ceiba neighborhood of the capital who play in the orchestra, sing in the choir or, like Valeria, 14, and Alejandro Montilla, 8, learn an instrument. There are also 442 other music centers throughout the country.

Rehearsals are held three times a week and every fortnight there is a small concert. On an afternoon last December, for example, 20 children performed Venezuelan classics such as Llanera soul before foreign guests. The performers laugh and joke before their performance.

The system, created by the late musician and composer José Antonio Abreu in 1975 and funded by the State, is currently a network of children’s and youth groups awarded and copied around the world, and a social project that uses music as a possible way out of the poverty and lack of prospects. “If a child does not have an occupation, he spends the day on the streets,” Angélica Teixeira, director of the La Ceiba musical center, tells dpa after the concert, adding that this situation is quite common in the neighborhood. “That is why ‘El Sistema’ is a good opportunity, we come together as a family,” he highlights.

Hundreds of thousands of people, especially from the poor neighborhoods of VenezuelaThey learned to play an instrument and played in the orchestra, as Angélica once did, or Valeria and Alejandro do now. Also the current musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Paris Opera, Gustavo Dudamel, left ‘El Sistema’.

As a result, some in Venezuela were surprised that the famed 40-year-old conductor did not conduct the orchestra that broke the record. Since the 2017 protests, with more than 120 deaths, Dudamel distanced himself from the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and strongly criticized the authoritarian government of President Nicolás Maduro. “‘El Sistema’ is still alive despite the complex situation we are living in Venezuela,” Dudamel told dpa in 2018.

The orchestra generates a great attraction. Several parents say that, before joining the orchestra, their children had already tried various sports or other activities. “But none of them motivated her as much as ‘El Sistema’”, affirms the mother of the violinist Daniela Monroy.

Music has something magical, a special energy. “I like that through the violin all sadness can come out, thus being able to remove anger or joy”, reflects Daniela. “I feel like I was born to play,” he says, adding that concerts give him a sense of accomplishment.

Daniela Monroy lives in the San Agustín neighborhood, near La Ceiba. From the top of the hill you can see the twin towers of Parque Central, two skyscrapers that were considered the tallest in Latin America for more than 20 years and that represented the rise of Venezuela in the late 1970s and early 1980s. . At that time, the oil industry was driving economic growth.

Today, the oil-rich country is in a deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis. Even gasoline is scarce and millions of Venezuelans have left their country. According to the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Venezuela ends the year 2021 with the lowest per capita income in the region: 1,627 dollars.

The country is thus even behind Haiti, affected by the earthquake, with 1,690 dollars. And as a result of the collapse of the country, the situation of ‘El Sistema’ is also worsening. The collapse of the water and electricity supply and public transport, for example, affects the violinist almost daily. Just a few days ago, a huge power outage plunged her back into darkness.

“Normally, no water comes out of the pipe. Only once a week ”, details Danger Mendoza’s mother, who plays the string instrument“ four ”and was part of the orchestra that broke the record.

In Mendoza’s house, a multi-story building built by the government of then President Hugo Chávez to alleviate the housing shortage among the poorest, dozens of plastic bottles with collected water are stacked. “When there is no water in the music center, the teacher asks that we bring a bottle, two bottles, three bottles,” he says.

The classes are free and the student is also provided with the instrument. Like Valeria and Alejandro Montilla, most of the children bring the instrument home to practice. But the situation is complicated if, for example, a rope breaks. “When Daniela tells me that a rope has broken, and the rope is expensive, then we see what we can do,” says her mother, adding that most of the time the whole family collaborates in some way.

“‘El Sistema’ started with eleven music stands and 50 chairs”, highlights the director of the musical center of La Ceiba about the challenges posed by the crisis. “I think there are no limits to not going to rehearsals. We have to find a way to guarantee that the child receives music classes ”, he emphasizes. However, the growing politicization bothers some parents.

The founder Abreu received wide recognition and ‘El Sistema’ continued to exist even after government changes and ideological twists and turns. A photo of the record-breaking orchestra showed Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the president’s son, playing the flute.

On the other hand, it was said that the musicians had not received anything to eat. “That bothered me,” said Daniela Monroy’s mother. “They are children and young people. This should not be exploited, since music is for everyone ”, he declared.