Yesterday the prize was awarded Prince of Asturias of the Arts 2008 to the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela.
I could see the news on television, and I was surprised by the amount of activities carried out by José Antonio Abreu, composer and economist who founded the System 33 years ago.
The objective was to provide children and young people, especially the most socially disadvantaged, the possibility of training musically. And his project has served as a quarry for thousands of Venezuelan children, adolescents and young people with enormous artistic potential that have fulfilled their dreams and have been overcome.
This combination of "the maximum artistic quality with a deep ethical conviction applied to the improvement of the social reality "it has been what has inclined to the jury of the Prize to award to the National System of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela.
The figures for this program show its greatness: 15,000 teachers of different nationalities who have taught more than 600,000 young people and children in Venezuela have participated. It is currently composed of 120 youth and 60 children's orchestras, as well as workshops for children and youth in those who learn to build and repair musical instruments.
In addition, there are special programs for disabled children, such as the White Hands Choir, composed of deaf children. In the television images I could see groups of boys and girls who would not spend 4 years having a great time with musical instruments, and some older children who already dominated some of them in their orchestras ...
I hope this project is so beautiful move on for a long time.
