One of the winners of the TED Prizes this year is Jos? Abreu, the esteemed Venezuela conductor and creator of “El Sistema“.
What makes this man a wonderful person, is not only the fact that today more kids in Venezuela play instruments, than football (or, as in the US call it, soccer).
What makes this man a wonderful person, is not only the fact that one of his students, Gustavo Dudamel, at the age of 26 was named to be the next Los Angeles Philharmonic as of the 2009-2010 season.
What makes this man a wonderful person, is not only the fact that on 6 June 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank announced the granting of a US$150 million loan to his “El Sistema” with the goal to support 500,000 children by 2015.
What makes him a wonderful person is, that he has a dream, and makes everything (im)possible to make it happens.
Respect, maestro! Your work is truly inspiring, and the sound of the music of the Teresa Carre?o Youth Orchestra shows it all:
To anyone in the USA:
Help make maestro Abreu’s dream more real in your country:
The Plan:
Partner with the New England Conservatory of Music to create, implement and document a year-long educational program that involves hands on training in Boston, an extended time studying El Sistema in Venezuela, guided internships in the second semester with public programs that affect youth at risk, followed by a required year working to advance or found an El Sistema program outside Venezuela.
The Needs:
* Help in identifying gifted musicians, who have fire in their bellies, passion for social justice and entrepreneurial spirit
* Expertise to help build the training program and curriculum, including legal, financial/auditing, academic/teaching, arts administration and project management.
* Identifying opportunities to work in existing urban programs or to create new ones.
* A team to build the El Sistema USA website, a resource which will assist others in starting similar programs and serve as an ongoing network of El Sistema leaders, educators, and ambassadors.
* A film production company that will document the training in Boston and Venezuela and follow a few graduates as they start their own programs; this material will be used for ongoing training purposes and have incredible potential to become a documentary film.
* Marketing and creative campaign help that captures the magic of El Sistema and brings attention to all of the lives currently being enhanced and transformed by this visionary approach to social development through musical training.
* Media partners.
* Mentorships, continued Entrepreneurial training.
* Operational funding and funding student fellowships (estimated $25,000 per student).
* Sponsoring local programs.
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You can help by clicking here. It doesn’t take a lot of time to enter your information, but it takes a lot of spirit and enthusiasm to follow this wonderful dream of Jose Abreu. I’ve already started – by blogging, by spreading the word, by contacting musicians in the US that I know. Hope you can help, too.