Simón Bolívar Music Foundation (El Sistema) Information

The National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela is a social and cultural work of the Venezuelan State. Also known as El Sistema, it was conceived and founded in 1975 by the Venezuelan teacher and musician José Antonio Abreu to systematize the instruction and collective and individual practice of music through symphony orchestras and choirs, as instruments of social organization and humanistic development. The Simón Bolívar Music Foundation (FundaMusical Bolívar) today yields fruits of hope by being a quarry for thousands of Venezuelan children, teenagers and young people who fulfill their dreams of personal and professional fulfillment through music. Musicians who every day offer their country new possibilities for improvement and vitality. They symbolize the effort to endure over time, and extend to other spheres of cultural activity, which is recognized as the Venezuelan musical miracle. More than the product of the genius and virtuosity of its creators, music is a reflection of the soul of the people and, in this case, it is the result of an educational program that in 40 years has crossed borders and exceeded expectations. In the past, the mission of art was a matter of the minorities for the minorities, then it was of the minorities for the majorities; now, it is by the majority for the majority, and constitutes a relevant element for the formation of the individual that allows him to insert himself in society in a productive way.