Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System Inspires Children of the Barrios

Venezuela - A violin case slung over her shoulder, 10-year-old Daniela Fagundez trudges home along a row of muddy yards where chickens scratch among banana trees and laundry hangs drying on wire fences.

She's an unlikely classical musician, the daughter of a construction worker father who dropped out of high school and a mother who has cleaned houses to help the family get by. But Daniela has found a new world in music, and her eyes light up as she talks about the violin she was given through a unique program that has changed her life.

"This is the most beautiful gift I've ever had," she says proudly. "In the future, I'd really like to conduct the orchestra."

She is a participant in one of the most widely praised teaching systems in classical music today, a nationwide network of orchestras that has made Venezuela a powerhouse for producing talented musicians.

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No, this is not a pro-Chavez piece. The program dates back to 1975, although Chavez has continued and promoted it.

I wish we had something like this. American culture says that the answer for poor and troubled youth is sports, sports, and more sports. But there's a problem with this: not everyone is athletic, not everyone likes sports, and few people can continue in sports once they reach middle age or even after they finish school.

We are told that sports teach teamwork, discipline, and responsibility and lead to lasting friendships and sense of accomplishment. Perhaps, but they lack intellectual or emotional content. (That's why I always thought the team sports sessions of our physical education classes were time in hell. I was always bored out of my mind.)

Look at music and the other performing arts:

1. Teamwork. Even as a soloist, you have to fit in with the rest of the ensemble. You don't stand out from the rest in a musical ensemble unless the director specifically asks you to.

2. Discipline. You have to be on task and pay attention during a performance and remain quiet and still while soloists or other sections are performing. The director's word is law.

3. Responsibility. If you haven't practiced enough, so that you hit wrong notes or come in late or early, you can make the whole ensemble sound bad.

4. Friendships. Musical ensembles that practice and perform together become quasi-families.

But music has added benefits. Learning to play or sing unfamiliar pieces that are just beyond the reach of your current competence is intellectually stimulating. Music is directly connected to the emotions--I'm not the only singer who can't sing when grieving or otherwise upset. It also serves as a way of bringing beauty and opportunities for self-expression to young people who might not have it otherwise, as the article suggests.

Best of all, a good musical performance is a win-win situation. After even the most exciting athletic event, one team and half the spectators go home deliriously happy, while the other side and the other half of the spectators go home miserable.

After an exciting musical performance, everyone goes home happy, both the performers and the audience.

There's no downside.

Venezuela's superb classical orchestral programs, funded by its government, have recently been extended to its prisons. Music is a powerful force to overcome hopelessness and despair. The U.S. needs to re-establish its musical training programs in schools and prisons. We could take a fraction of the money we are giving throughout tax dollars to defense and oil contractors in Iraq and provide meaningful help to our poor and dispossessed. Wouldn't it be wonderful for our whole society if orchestras and bands took the place of street gangs in our cities?

Give the prisoners something constructive to do that doesn't involve watching TV or lifting weights. Give them something that will show them a world outside of street crime.

Sports are good for many kids - but they can't do the job alone. Performing arts and instrumental music are crucial to building a complete alternative for youth to give them a purpose.

"Why classical and not popular music?" the interviewer asked.

The organizer of the movement noted that popular music was what the children's fathers listened to as they got drunk. The point of using classical music was to take the children out of their environment and show them another world.

Gustavo Dudamel has a few recordings with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, and I found them on iTunes. I bought 2 so far and they are good. A new one "Fiesta" released recently.

Rhapsody also has some excerpts:
http://www.rhapsody.com/simonbolivaryouthorchestraofvenezuela

He's set to take over as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in fall '09. I've seen posts on musician's boards from LA Phil members telling how excited they are about him.