Longy School of Music's Sistema Side by Side Orchestra Performs at Ceremony

On Saturday, September 20, 2014 Longy School of Music’s Sistema Side By Side Orchestra performed at a ceremony honoring the life and work of Maestro José Antonio Abreu, world-renowned educator, orchestral conductor, economist & founder of the “El Sistema” movement, at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Maestro José Antonio Abreu is the founder of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, commonly known as “El Sistema.” In 1975, motivated by his belief that art could transform lives, Maestro Abreu founded El Sistema, a groundbreaking program that provides social and music education to thousands of young people in Venezuela from the most vulnerable segments of the population. From its modest beginnings with 11 students rehearsing in a parking garage, El Sistema has grown to encompass more than 150 youth orchestras, 70 children’s orchestras, and 600,000 young musicians. The outstanding success of the program has inspired the development of similar programs throughout the world.