Snow Pond Center for the Arts - Summer Concert Series
Snow Pond Center for the Arts, Bangor Symphony Orchestra , Evan Wilson Viola soloist, NEMC Pops Concert, Broadway Under the Stars, U.S. Air Force Strings, In the Woods,
Snow Pond Center for the Arts, Bangor Symphony Orchestra , Evan Wilson Viola soloist, NEMC Pops Concert, Broadway Under the Stars, U.S. Air Force Strings, In the Woods,
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El Sistema, a Model <strong>for</strong> Music Education<br />
<strong>Snow</strong> <strong>Pond</strong> <strong>Center</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> is<br />
committed to making music as accessible<br />
as possible in our community and we are<br />
looking at successful models from around<br />
<strong>the</strong> world, such as El Sistema.<br />
The trans<strong>for</strong>mative power of music is<br />
sweeping <strong>the</strong> world through <strong>the</strong> inspiration<br />
of Venezuela’s revolutionary El Sistema.<br />
Founded in Venezuela in 1975 by<br />
Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu, El Sistema is a<br />
tested model of how a music program can<br />
both create great musicians and dramatically<br />
change <strong>the</strong> life trajectory of needy<br />
children, deeply benefitting youth from<br />
all backgrounds who participate. It now<br />
teaches music to more than 500,000 of<br />
Venezuela’s most vulnerable children, and hundreds<br />
of thousands more young people around <strong>the</strong> globe.<br />
El Sistema is not a replicable program or pedagogy,<br />
but an inquiry into <strong>the</strong> most effective ways to achieve<br />
youth development goals through intensive investment<br />
in <strong>the</strong> positive social impact of <strong>the</strong> ensemble.<br />
In 2009 Dr. Abreu was awarded <strong>the</strong> TED prize <strong>for</strong><br />
founding, growing and developing <strong>the</strong> National System<br />
of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs in<br />
Venezuela. Here are excerpts from his remarks upon<br />
accepting <strong>the</strong> award:<br />
Since I was a boy, in my early childhood, I always<br />
wanted to be a musician, and, thank God, I made it.<br />
From my teachers, my family and my community, I<br />
had all <strong>the</strong> necessary support to become a musician. All<br />
my life I’ve dreamed that all Venezuelan children have<br />
<strong>the</strong> same opportunity that I had. From that desire and<br />
from my heart stemmed <strong>the</strong> idea to make music a deep<br />
and global reality <strong>for</strong> my country.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> very first rehearsal, I saw <strong>the</strong> bright<br />
future ahead. … I had received a donation of 50 music<br />
stands to be used by 100 boys in that rehearsal. When<br />
I arrived at <strong>the</strong> rehearsal, only 11 kids had shown up,<br />
and I said to myself, “Do I close <strong>the</strong> program or multiply<br />
<strong>the</strong>se kids?” I decided to face <strong>the</strong> challenge, and on<br />
that same night, I promised those 11 children I’d turn<br />
our orchestra into one of <strong>the</strong> leading orchestras in <strong>the</strong><br />
world. Two months ago, I remembered that promise I<br />
made, when a distinguished English critic published an<br />
article in <strong>the</strong> London Times, asking who could be <strong>the</strong><br />
winner of <strong>the</strong> Orchestra World Cup. He mentioned four<br />
great world orchestras, and <strong>the</strong> fifth one was Venezuela’s<br />
Youth Symphony Orchestra. Today we can say that<br />
art in Latin America is no longer a monopoly of elites<br />
and that it has become a social right, a right <strong>for</strong> all <strong>the</strong><br />
people.<br />
In its essence, <strong>the</strong> orchestra and <strong>the</strong> choir are much<br />
more than artistic structures. They are examples and<br />
schools of social life, because to sing and to play toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
means to intimately coexist toward perfection and<br />
excellence, following a strict discipline of organization<br />
and coordination in order to seek <strong>the</strong> harmonic interdependence<br />
of voices and instruments. That’s how <strong>the</strong>y<br />
build a spirit of solidarity and fraternity among <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
develop <strong>the</strong>ir self-esteem and foster <strong>the</strong> ethical and aes<strong>the</strong>tical<br />
values related to <strong>the</strong> music in all its senses. This<br />
is why music is immensely important in <strong>the</strong> awakening<br />
of sensibility, in <strong>the</strong> <strong>for</strong>ging of values and in <strong>the</strong> training<br />
of youngsters to teach o<strong>the</strong>r kids.<br />
https://www.ted.com/talks/jose_abreu_on_kids_<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>med_by_music<br />
http://www.elsistemausa.org/<br />
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