Language of the Invisible  

Language of the Invisible by Jose Luis Hernandez-Estrada
Republished from in the Blog of the New England Conservatory's President 

“What is it that the orchestra has planted in the souls of its members? A sense of harmony, a sense of order implicit in the rhythm, a sense of the aesthetic, the beautiful and the universal, and the language of the invisible, of the invisible transmitted unseen through music.” –Jose Antonio Abreu 
 
I remember, vividly, the day that I decided to study music.
 
I wanted to be an artist.  As a child, I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew how it sounded. I would listen to Leonard Bernstein’s recordings of the Beethoven symphonies for hours on end. At six years old, the Eroica was my favorite musical work of all time. The sheer power of the sound was captivating; the music, grand and elegant.
 
Somewhere, I heard that if you studied piano, you could play the sounds of an orchestra. So I decided to take lessons. I remember having to sign a contract at the local community arts school—literally. This simple and yet daunting document stipulated that I would commit to attending lessons, practicing at home, and dedicating the effort into producing “results of artistic value.”
 
Fair enough, I agreed.
 
I quickly realized that music was not easy. And that it would take a while to reproduce the sounds that were so endearing to me. Nonetheless, a meaningful journey in music began, right then.
 
My first piano teacher wasn’t a world renowned artist or pedagogue, but he instilled in me a sense of purpose—the idea that any student, even at the initial stages of learning, should feel that his life in music and the arts, is important.  I had my concerto debut, at age ten.
 
Growing up, I treasured listening to Yo-Yo Ma’s interpretation of Haydn’s Cello Concerti. Ma’s playing sounded as if he were sharing his own life-story. His music-making conveyed a sense of order, of utmost immediacy and relevance. The music, composed over two hundred years ago, made sense, even in our times. With such universal works, we can develop new connections and experiences— a set of personal views, unique perspectives that allow us to realize their timeless beauty.
 
A few months ago, I was preparing to conduct a performance of La Mer. In learning the score, I decided to try something new. I spent some time just looking at the sea. In contemplating its stillness, I began to see Debussy’s opening bars in a new light. Everything came into focus—its colors and textures became more relevant, its message spoke more clearly to me. Impressionism became a more familiar language.
 
Recently, I heard Alan Gilbert lead the New York Philharmonic in a series of closed rehearsals at Lincoln Center. As they worked through Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, you could feel the musicians becoming enraptured by the composer’s world of sound, playing with an Olympian strength that was so striking and yet so accessible. What made their interpretation so unique?
 
Over the years, the Philharmonic has gotten to know Mahler very well. In playing the composer’s works, the orchestra is expanding on and enhancing a performance tradition and legacy that have evolved since the time when Mahler himself was its principal conductor.
 
To remain relevant, music must be understood, perfected, and embraced as part of a larger cross-cultural and personal narrative context. In this manner, a work’s meaning evolves. As Mahler himself explains, ”it should be one’s sole endeavor to see everything afresh and create it anew.” When we adopt this premise, we can feel music as a living entity; flexible and malleable to the spirit of our times.
 
Indeed, the times are changing. We are entering into an era of artistic re-imagination. My generation is seeing the role of the arts evolve and thrive anew. Performers are continually raising the bar of musical mastery. Musicians are aspiring to look beyond the notes, and re-imagine the universality of music as a catalyst for social transformation, in and through communities.
 
Jose Antonio Abreu, the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela, the celebrated national network of youth and professional orchestras, believes that music can have a transcendent effect on the development of society. His work in education and the arts, considered one of the “world’s cultural treasures,” (in the words of Austrian Culture Minister Claudia Schmied) is a model for the role of classical music in our times. Abreu’s El Sistema is a powerful artistic philosophy, a window into the art of possibility, a space where musicians can envision their profession as an instrument of transformative purpose.
 
Recognizing the orchestra as its primary learning domain, El Sistema’s fundamental goal is not to produce young instrumental virtuosos, but rather, citizens of virtue. Of course, this does not mean there isn’t room for the highest artistic achievement. On the contrary, the Venezuelans believe that in embracing excellence, the whole person thrives. Indeed, research has shown that participating in music develops creative capacities for lifelong success.
 
“An orchestra is a community that comes together with the fundamental objective of agreeing with itself, therefore, those who play a part in the orchestra, begin to live the experience of agreement,” Abreu explains.
 
What does the experience of agreement mean?
 
When I heard Gustavo Dudamel and the Símon Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (the flagship El Sistema orchestra)perform, I was immediately captivated by their sound. Their astonishing display of virtuosity reminded me that working together in the pursuit of common goals is a beautiful idea. As they tackled the dazzling mixed-meters and syncopations in Silvestre Revueltas’ Sensemaya you could feel their commitment to the score: their entire souls were present in the music.
 
Inspired by this experience and following Abreu’s guiding philosophy, I took on the task of building an orchestral program from the ground up. An orchestra of 100 children was born in Reynosa, Mexico, the city of my childhood, where I first heard the Eroica, just across the border with the United States. In a short time, we saw the youngsters’ level of playing increase dramatically; we saw a culture of collective achievement blossom through music. I learned that music could serve manifold purposes and that it could influence the lives of people in powerful ways.
 
In an orchestra, participants blossom through teamwork, understanding music as an endeavor that propels them to new spheres of achievement. Great professional and youth orchestras recognize that their work is never finished, but just begun, all of the time. They ask questions, they hone their message, and live up to the highest standards of excellence.
 
El Sistema orchestras are communities of practice. When musicians come together to learn from each other, they explode the narrow perception of art as an entity of exclusivity. They re-imagine music, fitting it to their own broader social construct, that of a new reality stemming from both an aesthetic purpose and social need. This duality of artistic motivation creates the kind of musical accomplishments that have captivated audiences all over the world.
 
That an orchestra and its members should recognize themselves as interdependent— is an interesting notion. The term, embraced by Abreu, stems from the field of economics. The orchestra becomes, “a whole of which the parts are connected and react on each other,” borrowing from the words of the 19th century mathematician Antoine Augustin Cournot, who wrote about economic interdependence.  Beauty is realized in communion with others.
 
This is what the El Sistema movement in the United States and around the world can strive for—to energize artists and teachers to create new frameworks of teaching and learning that connect people and ideas. In doing so, educators can also borrow from other fields and collaborate with thinkers across disciplines. Harvard’s Project Zero’s Studio Thinking Framework, is an exceptional tool that can help us understand artistic endeavors in the context of human growth.
 
I was recently invited to lead a conducting seminar for young maestros at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Orchkids, an El Sistema-inspired program. The children and I talked about what it means to be a part of an orchestra. We listened to Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony and discussed the composer’s idea of wanting to convey a “feeling of the expression of nature.” A world of beauty opened up, children were eager to feel for the sounds of nature in the score, to enter into a dialogue with the composer, and consequently, among themselves.
 
I’ve often heard that El Sistema’s artistic outcomes stem from a pedagogy of “passion preceding precision.” We must be careful not to romanticize this notion and to remember that musical achievement, which includes a strong command of instrumental technique, is fundamental to achieving any other extra musical benefits. Abreu believes that first and foremost, “art implies a sense of perfection.”
 
At Symphony Hall, shortly after his rehearsal of the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Boston Symphony, Yo-Yo Ma met with young musicians from the Boston Arts Academy. He asked them, “What do we still need to work on?” Clearly, a world class artist is always on a path to excellence.
 
It is always a thrill to hear a youth orchestra play Beethoven. The Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at the New England Conservatory, for example, is one of the country’s most accomplished youth orchestras. They are working on the Fifth Symphony, a work of epic proportions, one that we all know, almost too well. The musicians bring a sophisticated interpretation to the score, a unique personality and meticulous precision. It feels as if Beethoven had written the piece for them.
 
In the symphony, the composer presents us with a narrative of perseverance. The score itself represents a pedagogy of passion; of striving for gold. In daring to realize a score to its fullest potential, a musician must always feel as if the piece were composed for him. All emotions must be reconciled with past and present ideas—converging and creating new meaning for contemporary audiences. Sir Simon Rattle also believes that “music is always about something.” Part of the reason we feel any profound emotions from musicians is that clearly, the music, at its core means the world to them, hence “the message becomes loud and clear.”
 
In playing Beethoven, young people living in Boston, west Philadelphia, or in the barrios of Caracas can come to embrace and embody these same ideals. This is the language of the invisible at work, the kind of music-making that Abreu has envisioned through his orchestras.
 
Encompassing a duality of dimensions–artistic excellence and social participation, music can be seen as a vehicle to achieve civility, an enhanced notion of citizenry, and a “new school of social life.” The experience of agreement is also about knowing how to listen in pursuit of common goals. The orchestra teaches us lessons that extend well beyond music: we can learn how to work together.
 
Recently, the Sistema Fellows presented a lecture on the efficacy and potential of the arts as an instrument for social transformation for a study group at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. We were asked to enact El Sistema’s guiding principles.
We decided to engage our audience (graduate students in the fields of economics, education, and political science) musically. We followed Orff’s formula—our students were to “experience first and intellectualize later.”
 
Recognizing the unique skills of that community, we formed an orchestra—of voices. In less than forty-five minutes, we rehearsed and presented a finished musical performance. We assigned them parts from a collection of folk songs, perfected them, and embraced them as our own creations. We assimilated various pedagogical perspectives. Dalcroze (eurhythmics) was part of the equation.  The group was mesmerized with the results of that experience, energized, and ready to further explore music education and the arts as a part of a public service agenda.
 
In being one with music and community, artistry thrives and evolves. These are exciting times. We’ve now seen the El Sistema movement blossom into more than fifty communities around the country. The Sistema Fellows are an important voice in guiding this progress. Along with countless educators, administrators, and other visionary leaders, we are seeking to re-imagine the role of classical music in the 21st century.
 
To be a musician in our times, one must feel that through our profession, we can truly light-up the world. In realizing  a unique and personal interpretation of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto; developing a new pedagogy for teaching music in the context of the needs of at-risk youth; or conducting a performance of Dvorak’s New World Symphony, we can communicate our own perspectives of beauty and purpose. This in itself is a transcendental contribution to the world.
 
Every now and then, I listen to my old recording of the Eroica, to find inspiration, to connect with my beginnings—a reminder that the journey is never finished, but just begun. In Beethoven’s time, the opening E-flat major chords signaled a profound change in the direction of music. The work conveyed a wealth of new ideas—an identification with the challenges of humanity and with the heroism of bravery. In our times, musicians must be ready to embrace the true meaning of our craft: to produce artistic value, again and again.
 
After all these years, I’ve now come to realize that the greatest musicians are those who enter into our lives to share their talents in ways that inspire us to dream and thrive anew. Music can bring strength and purpose to our lives.  The language of the invisible, that which is transmitted unseen through music, is possible—when we strive to reveal its beauty—together.

El Sistema Diary: A Relentless Work Ethic  

El Sistema orchestras in Venezuela excel in many aspects, yet one of their most remarkable collective triumphs is their relentless work ethic. This week, I worked with the Orquesta Sinfonica Juvenil Franco Medina on Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. It was a four hour rehearsal. After we had become acclimated with each other I asked, when it would be appropriate to have a short break. They all said, “we don’t need a break, let’s keep going.”

This group is usually composed of musicians ages ranging thirteen to fifteen. They have come out of El Sistema Lara’s systematic approach to graduated orchestral instruction (this is the fourth orchestra in the program’s through line). Their ability to embrace musical goals with utmost diligence and curiosity is part of what makes their sound come alive so readily. It is how they advance so quickly, from arrangements of Marche Slave to Mahler Symphonies, in just a few years.

At this stage, they already understand the culture of playing in an orchestra, the aesthetics of sound; and they are also very focused on learning repertoire, quickly, at a much faster rate than their predecessors. This is why it isn’t surprising to see children’s orchestras playing complete Mahler symphonies in Caracas. The system has produced a long lineage of best practices and tools for talent development.

Learning is happening at a dramatic pace, because the children have insightful role models to look up to. The artistic prowess of El Sistema is carefully documented, young people can see and hear on YouTube what the Teresa Carreno Youth Orchestra (the most advanced high school age ensemble) is playing and how they are playing it. In Barquisimeto, while playing Marquez’s Danzon No. 2, many young violinists even emulate the motions of Lila Vivas (the orchestra’s concertmaster) as they go through the piece. 

 Here, I met an extremely gifted musician, who is learning to conduct the repertoire of his own children’s orchestra by watching other conductors work on the same repertoire with similar orchestras around the country. “I take the scores and conduct while the video plays, that’s how I can learn the music, says Jose Victor, a twelve-year-old horn player. Even during our rehearsal, it was easier to describe a specific bowing and articulation of sound, by pointing out directly to a certain viral performance by the Orquesta Infantil de Caracas.

Every musician in El Sistema is connected, they are all growing together. They all aspire together.

And that culture of aspiration manifests in many different ways. Motivation is key. It is part of the ethos of El Sistema. Frank Enrique, a clarinet player at my rehearsal, travels from Tamaca to Barquisimeto every day to attend his orchestra sessions. On a good day, it may take about two hours, each way. He is learning Shostakovich’s tenth symphony, it is a part of a major audition, leading to his dream of playing in of Caracas’ finest youth orchestras. Not everyone is centered on these artistic goals, many are here because they just “want to make new friends.”

A careful balance of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is part of the ingredients of their unyielding work ethic. In El Sistema, there are very clear artistic objectives in place. It is part of a goal setting theory where a level of success is achieved on a daily basis.

As we worked on the Tchaikovsky, we centered on building a musical narrative built on a variety of moods. Tempo changes had to be worked out between sections, but most importantly, the emotional aspects of the episodes had to be realized through a sense of collective understanding of a feeling for the music. We didn’t focus as much on having a technically perfect performance. That will come, with time. The main idea is to create a space of creative immersion and tap on the student’s potential for collaboration.

In El Sistema, there are no limits to the music-making, because peer-to-peer relationships developed in and through the orchestra take on multiple meanings and hence, artistic form. The music becomes larger than life. Individual skills are refined purposefully, for the benefit of the collective whole. The orchestra is the great motivator.

Because El Sistema has been built upon an upward spiral of motivation, student’s work with tenacious commitment. There are many different layers of goal setting embedded in the El sistema culture. Everyone: students, teachers, and the community at large, has a particular role and part to play. In the end, every performance is a manifestation of something that is much larger than the music itself. There are no other special ingredient here. It is hard work, that drives such extraordinary artistic achievements.








A short clip from our rehearsals this week.

El Sistema Diary: The Spirit of Music  

Santa Rosa, a picturesque colonial town, just outside of Barquisimeto, is the home to La Divina Pastora, Venezuela‘s most revered Saint Patroness. Just over two years ago, a nucleo was started there, at the heart of community. Literally, classes take place outside, around the main square, in homes, at the jefatura (mayor‘s office), parochial classrooms--all within a close perimeter. Music is heard in and around every corner. José Luis Giménez, the nucleo’s decisive founder says, “wherever there is a shade, there is music.”

They are slowly building their nucleo. There are five hundred students enrolled: two orchestras playing arrangements of Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, choirs, and a recently formed cello ensemble. “We are imploring to the Virgin that we may have an adequate space for teaching.“ “I know it will come,“ says Giménez.

Plans to build an official rehearsal space are underway. Carmen, a parent, is an architect and has donated her services to render a model and blueprint. It will be a modest space that will overlook the Turbia Valley and the verdant hills around Barquisimeto--music amid a pastoral setting.

Things start slowly, they take time.

The students also want to make a case for themselves. They are working towards producing a concert at La Sede, home of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. They want to be heard. Their energy is contagious, their sound enormous. Music matters to them. They aspire to reach new realms of achievement, every single day. The orchestra is a serious commitment for both the students and their families.

To see the beginnings of a process where an entire town is being transformed by and through music is indeed, very special. Here, El Sistema is framing the arts as a conduit for social development of the highest order. Their orchestra is an asset, a tool for building social capital; elevating their quality of life through a constant exposure to beauty.

The main square, a hub for music, has also become a place of peace, guided by the gracious spirit of La Divina Pastora, who watches over the orchestra and those who take part in it. 

Wherever there is music, there is also hope.









El Sistema Diary: Building a Sound Culture  

In Barquisimeto, I asked a student what made the Venezuelan orchestras play with such inspiration. “They have charisma,” he said. Everyone brings their own self into the music, and every musician looks for new things that they can bring. “Any orchestra can play the Danzon No. 2, but we make it special, because we don’t just focus on the notes, we focus on feeling the music.”

Part of the aesthetics of sound in El Sistema stem from being the music. It is a process that is driven by both a kinesthetic and affective approach to performance. The narratives in the music, literally move the orchestras. The embedded experience-constants guide their music-making.

It is a culture of establishing relationships through sound. The fact that musicians can grow up together and make music throughout their youth allows them to discover themselves as active participants and collaborators of beauty. They can share their feelings freely and without reservation. Perfection is never the goal, striving towards something that is larger than oneself is part of the aesthetics. The music is often exaggerated, dynamic ranges are wider than usual, rhythmic passages taken on more percussive qualities, lyrical sections speak with heartfelt expression.

In El Sistema, we hear a different kind of sound, unified throughout all levels of musical skill, because their artistry encompasses an entire dimension of life experiences, reflected in and through music.  As a social program, music takes on different meanings. And this helps musicians transcend both as individuals and as a community, extending the possibilites of music far beyond the notes, and into new realms of human expression.







El Sistema Diary: A New School of Social Life  

At Barquisimeto, I sat down for a long conversation with Maestro Luis Jimenez, one of El Sistema’s founders and most fervient advocates. “We are living a dream,” he said. And rightly so. The nucleo was one of the first in the country. The musical home of Gustavo Dudamel, it now serves three thousand beneficiaries making-up nine youth orchestras, numerous choirs, and also special needs education programming.

I asked Maestro Jimenez, a father-like figure in the nucleo, what had made him decide to dedicate a life to teaching music for social change. “Maestro Abreu had a broad vision, from the very beginning.” “In 1975, when we started the first truly national orchestra of Venezuelans, he was already thinking about a movement. I was in the cello section, and during our rehearsals, he incessantly cultivated a way of forward thinking, planting seeds, and sharing the future.” The model that the orchestra had built in Caracas was meant to be replicated, many musicians began plans to build similar programs, all over the country. This wasn’t just an orchestra, it was a group of individuals who would lead change, in profound ways.

From the very beginning, the orchestra has been the framework from which El Sistema has evolved. It guides the pedagogy and all social aspects of music-making. Here, students don’t ask where you are from, but rather what orchestra you play in. You may find children playing side-by-side in between rehearsals as duos or trios, to perfect a certain passage, learning from each other. Or teenage musicians at the areperia during lunch hour, trying to make sense of a certain difficult rhythm pattern, scores in hand, in preparation for their rehearsals that evening. The orchestra is the conduit for learning and measuring achievement.

Here, in Barquisimeto, all orchestras lead to another, in a pyramid scheme, culminating in the Orquesta Sinfonica Juvenil de Lara, a semi-professional orchestra that is playing Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony this same week. There is ample room for everyone here, students transfer to advancing ensembles when they are ready, no matter the age (a few 12 year-old children are playing Prokofiev). Many of them spend as many as ten years participating in the program. The majority of graduates do not become professional musicians, yet continue their education as professional in a wide-variety of careers.

Maestro Jimenez asked me to work with the Orquesta Doralisa de Medina, the pride and joy of the nucleo. This ensemble, is their student’s first opportunity to come together as a symphony orchestra, complete with woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections. We worked on arrangements by Purcell and Charpentier. Our orchestra’s timpanist, a brand new musician to the nucleo, was supported by a tallerista (an itinerant teaching-artist), playing side-by-side, a common occurrence in El Sistema.

During the rehearsal we emphasized listening to each other, to realize our instrumental voices as interdependent. How are the flutes articulating the melody? Can we match the sound with the cello section’s counterpoint? Making artistic decisions--both conductor and musicians--together, is a way to begin thinking of the orchestra as a model for dialogue and as Maestro Abreu describes it, as "a new school of social life.”

As I’ve experienced, a nucleo is about building infrastructures, not just of orchestras, but of new citizens, equipped with tools to lead change and build a more promising future of their own and in benefit of their nation’s wellbeing. Music matters, profoundly.




El Sistema Diary: The Aesthetics of Generosity 

At La Sede, young musicians were invited to listen in to Deutsche Grammophon's recording session of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel. Sitting in the front rows, the children were attentive to the orchestra’s every sound and nuance. Seeing them all there, at such an important and historic ocassion--listening, describing, and embracing the music-making--was a beautiful experience.

We were all captivated by the performance. Over the years, the orchestra has grown to acquire a unique personality and palpable charisma. Beethoven was pushed to the limits. The Eroica lived and breathed in a space of increasingly wider dynamic ranges and more expansive phrases, always emphasizing the ground-breaking essence of the old-age narrative. It will be a recording that will generate a lot of interest among classical music enthusiasts. 

One could readily feel Beethoven’s sense of angst and despair, of heroism and possibility. Today, Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra took on the role of heroes, relating stories of passion and possibility to us all, and most importantly, to the young audiences in the concert hall.

One of the most fascinating aspects of our art form is how people can come to relate with one another through the experience of listening to or performing music. Part of the aesthetics of El Sistema stem from realizing meaningful connections to narratives of feeling.  What are the kind of experiences that we can create together? And how can we share them with those around us? It is truly a space of generosity, marked by ideals of profound solidarity and joy. This is part of what guides the mission of El Sistema--giving young people opportunities to relate to and learn from one another, build relationships, and imagine life-changing trajectories.
 
I also thanked Maestro Abreu for that same gift to us. For allowing us to enter into the narratives of El Sistema, and in doing so, inviting us to realize that in a space of  generosity, anything may be possible.  

El Sistema Diary: Finding Mystic  

During the last couple of days, I’ve heard from numerous people involved in El Sistema one word that resonates ever so strongly with the work we’ve experienced: that is, mystic. A word we don’t often hear, at least when describing the processes and outcomes of music education. After seeing a concert of very young musicians at Montalban, family members referred to the work as having a special mystic, “our children can learn to work together and believe in themselves,“ one mother said.

A recent New York Times article touched on the idea of an overarching mystic permeating  El Sistema, citing an almost religious quality to the work of Maestro Abreu. This is very true, nucleos feel in many ways as sacred spaces, sanctuaries for the learning and teaching of music.

How does this manifest itself? As you enter a nucleo, there is music all around you. Upstairs, one orchestra can be working on Handel’s Water Music, while another plays an arrangement of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Downstairs is a wind band playing through Tchaikovsky’s symphonies. In the room next door, cuatro lessons (a Venezuelan folk instrument) are being taught to anyone who might be interested. Other students are taking lessons in solfege, very young musicians are working on Dalcroze exercises. All happening simultaneously. One can hear music emanate from every classroom and carry into another, creating a kaleidoscope of sounds, all infused with an aspiring zeal. Every student in the nucleo is aware of each other’s musical activities, creating even deeper connections among themselves.

This is part of that mystic: the experience of being part of an endearing yet almost indescribable experience. That’s why students and teachers keep coming back, they instinctively know that music can offer the kind of intrinsic motivation and hope that few other activities can provide.

In El Sistema, music is seen in the context of what it can provide to the development of youngsters. And because music is one of the most demanding of all the art forms, it is the perfect vehicle to achieve this mission. Students are pushed to the limits. Middle-school age children can reach levels of musical accomplishment far beyond what is expected of that age group in any setting. Building a tenacious spirit is a way out of the stresses of both material and non-material poverty. Meeting extraordinary musical goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis is their measurement of success.

Indeed, inviting young people to believe in themselves might be perhaps one of El Sistema’s greatest contributions. The joy that this brings cannot be measured. It can only be felt--with the heart.












El Sistema Diary: Nucleo Sarria (Day 2)  


The stories are real, it is truly a miracle. The passion and energy that emanates from young Venezuelan orchestras is mesmerizing. After our journey here in Venezuela, I know that my life in music will never be the same. At Nucleo Sarria, a community based initiative founded by Rafael Elster, we played through Arturo Marquez’s fiery Conga del Fuego. The youngsters also taught me some of their own national music, Alma Llanera and Chamambo. I felt being part of their own stories, their pride, their inextinguishable joy.

The students have a constant desire to acquire new knowledge. To realize a brighter present and future, to grow beyond music. Maestro Abreu’s vision for music as a catalyst for social transformation is at work at Sarria. His young musicians and their teachers are leading a new renaissance in music education. It is a privilege to witness this work first hand and to be inside the sound of that blessed space.

It is clear that the children see themselves as something larger than themselves. El Sistema has given them exceptional role models-- teachers that work tirelessly to redefine their student‘s sense of self-worth and potential; to provide them opportunities to experience beauty on a daily basis. It is that kind of implicit responsibility and purpose that drives their connection to the larger mission of El Sistema. “It is very hard work, but one has to make it personal or else our mission would never work,” Elster said.

There is something very special about working with orchestras in Venezuela. The children lead rather than follow the music. Everyone is part of the team, there aren’t any boundaries or hierarchical spheres in this framework. The musician’s at the head of sections aren’t necessarily the best players. A model where competition is non-existent constitutes an ideal space for El Sistema. Of course, that doesn’t mean that children can’t aspire to claim a coveted spot as part of the national orchestras, but rather, through a process where collective virtuosity stems as an outcome of individual skills, musicians grow and thrive, reaching even higher levels of musical achievement. They come to experience music through a vision that is guided by a spirit of solidarity. And this same spirit, provides them with a new family within the nucleo: a safe-haven to learn, socialize, and feel valued.

Their music is rendered through a transfixing kinesthetic quality (one can see that this process starts early on, as evidenced by their strong early childhood programs centered on movement and expression). It is a larger community of practice, a network within the orchestra, of mutual support; and of a new joyful reality. This is all reflected in the aesthetics of the music-making.

Indeed, one of the beauties of this work is how teachers envision the potential and life trajectories of their students. Najaneth Perez has been working at Sarria for over 7 years, she knows that her students are capable of accomplishments far beyond their own imaginations, in music and in life (there are no distinctions here, these two constitute one indissoluble dimension). And that’s why she works incessantly, listening to and perfecting them in the outside patio, amid the weather and the elements. Because she believes that she can make a difference. Every one of her students matters, every note means something, and it adds up. After all, it is personal.











El Sistema Diary: Nucleo Montalban (Day 1)  

Today at Montalban, one of El Sistema's flagship nucleos, a 10 year-old musician told me, "el Maestro, wants us to learn and play la cuarta by the end of the month." Puzzled with curiosity, I asked, which fourth? "Tchaikovsky's fourth," he said. Last week, Maestro Abreu invited the Montalban children's orchestra to perform for the members of the LA Philharmonic during their recent trip to Caracas. They joined a 305-piece orchestra in playing  the symphony's last movement, by heart. And now, they have an enormous task ahead of them, a complete symphony, one of the most challenging pieces in the orchestral repertoire.

Today, my colleague David and I had the opportunity to work through the first movement with the young musicians. A working rehearsal, their playing wasn't note perfect, but yet profoundly compelling. We heard music-making that was full of creativity and charisma.  As I stood before them, it was as if the young musician's were telling me their own life stories, their aspirations, and their dreams--through their art.

There are no limits to the extent of possibility in El Sistema. The young musicians at Montalban know this. As you walk through the corridors of the building, (an austere yet  welcoming space) posted on walls,  one can observe a multitude of press clippings and concert photographs. A reminder of what has been accomplished thus far and where the group might be headed.  "Children's Orchestra Travels to Europe, ""Young Musicians Captivate Simon Rattle," "The Children's Orchestra: Role Models for the Future."

Throughout our day, we saw among all age groups, a level of artistic commitment and work ethic that would parallel the kind of engagement stemming from our own country's conservatories. In Montalban, there is a healthy seriousness about the work at hand, a desire to achieve excellence among all levels of musical abilities, and above all, an extraordinary feeling of joy and devotion for music and for the community that helps create it.

El Sistema has a strong culture of visiting artists. And today we experienced a beatiful exchange. We saw nucleo teachers encouraging their students to take advantage of our presence on site. Some of us worked with youth orchestras, others with choirs, and early childhood education. In a flexible ecosystem of teaching and learning, we shared our best with each other. And we recognized one another as family.













In the beginning…Tocar y Luchar.  



Tocar y Luchar, as first seen on a national publication (1976).

It begins with a mission.


Maestro Abreu began El Sistema with a simple yet powerful mission. One that was full of symbolism as it embodied the social sentiment of the times, a desire to aspire to better things, and the opening of new ways of thinking about the arts, its purpose in society, and young people’s role as guarantors of that process. Since 1976, Tocar y Luchar (to play and to fight) has been the great calling of El Sistema.
 
In a social and artistic context, this translates more like, To Play and to Strive. And this is a beautiful idea for a collective mission. A higher purpose of inquiry, of artistic discovery; and social participation; is what binds the work or rather their network (of more than 280 interdependent programs) together. Any successful organization, whether artistic, civic, or governmental begins with a clear mission. Because clarity defines purpose and all of the work moving forward.

The following notes from El Nacional, are a testament to El Sistema's beginnings. As the headlines implie, it is clear that Sistema in Venezuela began with a strong artistic imperative. Conceived as a national entity (a youth orchestra), with no funding, yet a desire to produce products of excellence (as evidenced by the engagement of some of the great conductors of the time). Even from the very beginning, young players were put to the test, by participating in a world festival of youth orchestras and working intensively with Carlos Chavez, the celebrated Mexican composer and educator. 

Part of El Sistema's growth and capacity is driven by drafting and realizing extraordinary musical goals. For example, a Mahler cycle, from memory. This--the kind of work that defies expectations--is the conduit for achieving the social goals that Maestro Abreu often describes: the experience of agreement, the affluence of spirit. Indeed, the process of a continual strive has been ever-present in the work of El Sistema. And it will continue to guide their efforts for social transformation in and through communities, into the future.


Headlines from El Nacional, the Venezuela Daily.
February 2, 1976 (Translated from the original Spanish).

A great calling for a great orchestra.
Tocar y Luchar

The National Youth Symphony Orchestra “Juan Jose Landeta” has 150 members. At the end of the year there will be 300.
 
For them, in spite of their success and hard work, their country has not yet provided them any funding.

They are young and live as such: they wear blue jeans, sport wavy hair, and they like Rock. But above all, they have one love: music.

This year two great conductors will come to teach and work with them: Eduardo Mata and Peter Maag.

An upcoming and enormous challenge: the World Festival of Youth Orchestras in Britain.

Maestro Carlos Chavez dedicates with utmost care and dedication, long days of arduous work to polish them technically.