El Sistema

Posted on Sunday, February 28

El Sistema Chicago Premiere
Directed by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier
Germany/Venezuela

Classical music is an elitist pursuit, right? Not in Venezuela. Thanks to the National Network of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela, better known as El Sistema, more than 265,000 children across the country—90 percent of whom are poor—are members of youth orchestras. Meet the amateur musician who made El Sistema happen, children who feel more pain missing a practice than being shot, and El Sistema’s success stories, including Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudanel.