ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 looks at the international influence of the Venezuelan Fundacion del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela – better known simply as “El Sistema.” One of the most significant music education initiatives of recent times, its impact both within Venezuela and internationally has been one of the key areas of attention for the international music education community over recent decades. With advocates including Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, and Julian Lloyd Webber, Sistema projects have spread across the world with high-profile projects now underway in cities as disparate as Perth, Los Angeles, Liverpool, Nairobi, and Gaza in Palestine. This chapter looks in particular at Sistema-inspired programmes operated or supported by symphony orchestras, and considers the impact and practical application of the Sistema model in diverse social systems. In a poignant twist, these “spinoff” Sistema programmes are gaining traction and strengthening their impact even as the original Venezuelan model is caught in controversy.
