South American system music to kids’ ears
CARACAS, Venezuela — When Adan Bello was born in Caracas, he barely cried.
Then the Venezuelan baby’s blinking eyes turned toward the calm melody of a duo of harpists playing Brahms’ “Cradle Song” in the corner of a public hospital’s maternity wing.
Minutes later, his mother received a certificate signing Adan up for Venezuela’s hugely successful classical music program, known as “El Sistema” (The System).
The state-run System has since its inception in 1975 trained 2.5 million youngsters, mostly from low-income backgrounds, including Gustavo Dudamel, the renowned conductor of The Los Angeles Philharmonic.
“A child who takes up a musical instrument is a child who will never raise a weapon,” said Leonardo Mendez, coordinator of The System’s latest “New Members” initiative.
In a nation awash with guns and with one of the world’s highest murder rates, The System has for decades sought to counteract poor children’s exposure to violence with the gentle and inspiring influence of classical music.
It used to only admit children at least 5 years old. But under the “New Members” projects, hundreds of smaller infants can receive voice lessons and musical initiation with paper-made instruments and see free concerts at its base in Caracas.
Some System musicians are fanning out to hospitals, like the one where Adan was born, playing classical themes to mothers in labor to inspire new music lovers even before birth.
It was Mendez, a Venezuelan economist and musician, who founded The System four decades ago to help children and teens escape crime in the slums.
The program has had a huge positive impact in Venezuela and been copied in other South American nations as well U.S. cities like Los Angeles.