El Sistema and American Music Education

Abstract

The brainchild of José Antonio Abreu, El Sistema, a music education program for aspiring orchestra musicians launched in Venezuela for students of limited means and now spreading to other parts of the world, has become a subject of interest to music teachers and teacher educators in North America. This article examines a bit of the program’s history and considers some of its attributes and principles that may be applicable to American music education.

Keywords

Abreu at-risk students El Sistema method orchestra Venezuela

Are there aspects of Venezuela’s El Sistema that could be adapted for music teaching in classrooms in the United States?

The Venezuelan national youth orchestra program El Sistema has captured the imagination and interest of musicians, orchestras, and educators throughout the world over the last few years. The phenomenon has touched the hearts and minds of many American musicians, educators, organizations, funders, and politicians. Orchestral programs inspired by El Sistema have been developed, and a training program has been created at the New England Conservatory to develop future directors for El Sistema–inspired programs. Discussion has also taken place in music education and professional orchestra journals and at workshops and conferences. Many questions have been raised about the formula for success in the Venezuelan youth orchestra movement and how it can be re-created in the United States.

A Brief History

Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu was the impetus for El Sistema. As with many other effective movements and programs, such as the Suzuki Method or Roberta Guaspari’s string program in Harlem, the program was founded because of one person with a vision. El Sistema began in 1975 with eleven children in an underground parking garage.¹ At that time, there were only two orchestras in Venezuela, and the musicians were predominantly European immigrants.² What is now an international phenomenon began in humble surroundings with a small group of dedicated teachers. Because of the work and resolve of these individuals, the program grew and expanded despite dramatic political changes that took place in the country. Through six shifts in the government over El Sistema’s three decades of history, Abreu successfully advocated for increased government funding.³ Today, starting from Abreu’s seedling program, Venezuela has more than “60 children’s orchestras, almost 200 youth orchestras, 30 professional adult orchestras, and dozens of choruses.”⁴

Abreu possesses a keen assessment and recognition of his community’s needs and opportunities. These qualities are critical to the discussion about replicating El Sistema in other countries and communities. Furthermore, Abreu’s ability to keep the program sustained despite political obstacles for more than three decades must have involved significant study of political and other influential powers that be, as well as ongoing development and nurturing of relationships and connections. Abreu’s cultivation of political and financial support is one of the most impressive aspects of El Sistema.

Characteristics of El Sistema

In written descriptions of El Sistema, as well as from interviews of alumni living in the United States, several distinct characteristics of El Sistema emerge:

Time investment: Students in El Sistema spend a significant number of hours and years on their instruments. The program is primarily an after-school program, and students attend for approximately four hours every day after school as well as on weekends.⁵ Most children join around the age of five, but with parent participation, students as young as two or three can be enrolled.⁶ Students join the program at the beginning stages at local centers called nucleos, often within walking distance of their homes. As students develop, they can be placed in more advanced ensembles at their nucleos and eventually can be rotated to more advanced satellite locations. By beginning the program in the early elementary years and attending daily for several hours, students in the El Sistema program spend a significant amount of time in their developmental years in the program’s social environment and learning structure.

Monetary incentives: The duration and length of time in the program for each student is also encouraged through financial benefits and opportunities. The program is free for all participants, including free classes, free music, and free instruments.⁷ Funding comes almost entirely from the government through funding for social welfare programs.⁸ Because the majority of students are from poor and sometimes dangerous neighborhoods, El Sistema provides a safe haven. In addition, once students reach a certain level of achievement through placement in one of the youth or city orchestras, they receive a monetary stipend. Because these students, typically teenagers, are able to receive some compensation, their families are less likely to pull them out of the educational program to work to provide additional income for the household.⁹

Group instruction on specific orchestral works: The educational structure of El Sistema is focused on group instruction in the orchestra format through development of specific repertoire. Each week, the extensive hours of practice time are divided among full-ensemble rehearsal, sectional rehearsals, and private lessons. Sectionals and private lessons are usually given to younger students by older students, who serve as their mentors.¹⁰ Instructional time is spent on learning specific ensemble pieces in a sequential pattern used throughout El Sistema. Students typically begin with classical masterworks, such as Merle J. Isaac’s “Obertura Gitana,” and soon move on to arrangements of pieces, such as Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and “March Slav” and Mussorgsky’s “Great Gate of Kiev.”¹¹ In fact, students revisit many of these “same pieces and practice again and again,”¹² so much so that a young musician will have performed and studied these works repeatedly over his or her young career.¹³ Intense and extensive time is spent learning the orchestral parts. “They work in sections at great length, with a teacher and lots of peer-coaching and mentoring. They may spend as much as three days on 12 bars of music, culminating in the whole orchestra coming together to work on those 12 bars. Almost all students join in annual retreats around holidays and vacations, for one to three weeks. While on retreat everyone works on pieces in a variety of ways for ten hours a day.”¹⁴ Those most advanced students are eventually funneled to Caracas to participate in the flagship ensemble, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, and to study at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory of Music, where they receive extra private lessons.¹⁵

El Sistema in the United States

For several reasons, it may not be feasible to bring El Sistema to American public schools and communities.

Current Realities of U.S. Orchestral Education

American music educators should first take into account the starting point of El Sistema in Venezuela and the current realities in our United States. When Abreu led the first rehearsal of what would become a national youth orchestra movement, there were almost no orchestras in Venezuela and little to no orchestral educational programs for young Venezuelans. Abreu identified a national void and created a program that filled this void. However, the current status of orchestral training in the United States is not as clear-cut as this. Many of the leading schools of music and conservatories are located in the North America, and vibrant music studio programs can be found throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Despite this, orchestral training is offered in approximately only 20 percent of American public schools, with the large majority of these programs being located in suburban schools. In fact, over the last ten years, one-fourth of school systems with students at low socioeconomic levels have dismantled their orchestral programs.¹⁶

There are youth orchestra programs throughout the United States, although most of these programs require that a child play an instrument before being placed in one of their ensembles. Based on the League of American Orchestras’ 2006–2007 survey, “children age[s] six to ten make up one-half of one percent of youth orchestras.”¹⁷ Clearly, this indicates that a majority of youth orchestras are not offering beginning instrumental instruction like that of El Sistema.

Tuition represents the largest amount of funding for most youth orchestras. Government support is less than 7 percent; however, 83 percent of youth orchestras in the United States do offer financial-need scholarships to students.¹⁸ So, with the majority of public schools in America offering no orchestral instruction, and many community organizations unable to afford to do so, the beginning stages of instrumental instruction are often available only in preparatory programs and private studios. One exception to this is the String Projects, found throughout the country under the auspices of the National String Project Consortium, which offer beginning instruction through group and orchestral instruction.

Funding Realities

Another critical component of El Sistema is the financial incentive for participants. Students in Venezuela attend the program at no charge; are given instruments, music, and lessons; and at some point are even eligible for monetary stipends, usually in their teenage years. Stipends are also available in the United States in training programs for postgraduates in organizations such as the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. El Sistema students who receive stipends give back to the program as mentors and teachers for the younger students in the program. These aspects of El Sistema are something we should reflect on in the United States and determine if these values coincide with our own.

American public schools should offer diverse music education, funded by the government. However, funding is usually determined on a local level and varies by community. Furthermore, if funding were available through government, private, corporate, and foundation support, most existing community organizations, such as youth orchestras, would probably be very interested in taking the opportunity to provide beginning free orchestral instruction to their communities. However, funding traditions in the United States are firmly established, and most, especially government, sources require measurements demonstrating the effectiveness of the programs as well as proof of the overall benefit to participants. What is more, today’s economic climate makes the establishment of a nationwide youth orchestra program virtually impossible. Another component of the financial considerations, the El Sistema stipend, is an issue that would require further reflection. While American society condones providing scholarships for deserving students in need, being “paid to play” is not a widely accepted concept. For example, while many star athletes receive college scholarships, they are not paid for their time on the practice field, regardless of the money and prestige they bring to their institutions.

Pedagogical Practices

In addition to cultural and considerations, the sheer number of hours students spend in El Sistema probably cannot be replicated in the United States, and the structure of El Sistema is not something that would be accepted by most American parents and educators. El Sistema provides a safe, supervised, and productive environment for many students who would not otherwise have this opportunity. However, a safe environment can be provided in a multitude of activities and programs in many American communities.

In addition, El Sistema students study primarily specific orchestral repertoire based on their current skill level. However, according to El Sistema alumni in the United States, education on specific technical skills, such as scales, sight-reading, shifting, vibrato, and so on, can be dependent on where a student lives and the resources and leadership available at his or her local nucleo. Note-by-note teaching is not something music educators in the United States would likely want to emulate. Developing a complete musician includes teaching the technical skills listed above, as well as providing music theory and history instruction. In addition, experiences in improvisation, composition, and other creative musical endeavors are equally valid. From speaking with El Sistema alumni in the United States as well as individuals who have observed the program, I have learned that students who lack basic financial resources often do not have the opportunities to fully develop these extended skills. Since these capacities are not addressed within El Sistema, the only option is prohibitively expensive supplementary instruction. These students, therefore, often lack the types of knowledge and skills that could assist them in becoming independent and self-sufficient musicians. My sources have indicated that such independence is not always valued in the program, as noted by some alumni who have been discouraged from leaving Venezuela for other musical pursuits.

The repetition of repertoire in El Sistema year after year is not looked on positively in the United States. American music teachers generally support giving students the opportunity to experience a vast array of repertoire and musical genres. This practice of repetition in El Sistema is likely aided by the large number of hours students spend in the program every day over many years. This time investment may be the aspect of El Sistema least transferrable to the United States. With the vast number of other opportunities and distractions available in the United States, a four-hour daily program, including some weekends, as well as overnight boot camp–style retreats to learn repertoire would not be feasible in American society. Most significantly, it is unlikely that funding for the hours of teachers and for facilities needed to create such a program will be available. It goes without saying that in a society that values developing many aspects of the whole child, most parents would not want their children enrolled in a program that absorbs almost all the child’s extracurricular time.

Some Takeaways: Advocacy, Funding, Sustainability

When one looks at the structure of El Sistema and the cultural aspects of the United States and Venezuela, the conclusion seems to be that the structure of the program is not transferrable. A national system in a democratic country that differs county by county, school district by school district, and state by state seems quite unlikely, especially considering that there are many long-standing orchestral educational programs, schools, and organizations already in existence throughout the country. The main value that can and should be imported is the desire to continue to remove economic barriers for students who would like to experience orchestral instrument study. If the knowledge of El Sistema can reinforce this in our politicians and funding entities, then the media attention to El Sistema will have been worthwhile.

The most significant lesson educators and arts supporters should take from El Sistema is to consistently support advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national levels. Supporters of orchestral education need to bring visibility to orchestral and music education and to be publicly involved in political discussions of funding.

From an advocacy standpoint, the most successful aspects of El Sistema are the national support for the program and the consistent government funding. El Sistema is fascinating, but practically speaking, the funding backbone has been there over the last three decades to make it so. The United States has many prominent pedagogues, excellent teacher-training programs, and many exemplary programs and schools already providing world-class orchestral training. We are building from a better position than what was present at the birth of El Sistema. Orchestra teachers and musicians in the United States do not need to reinvent the wheel, but they do need to increase the number of school orchestra programs, advocate for more funding for existing community programs, and provide support for new programs in communities where there are none.

The most practical way to provide each child with the opportunity to participate in a high-quality orchestral training program is within the public school system. It is through this structure that government funding should be accessible. In addition, if funding were made available, community organizations also could assist in this endeavor by providing instruction at all levels, and after-school and on weekends. However, funding differs by region and community, and many youth orchestras share “similar struggles to provide more access and the funding to do so.”¹⁹

We can learn from the political fortitude and endurance of El Sistema’s teachers in their homeland. Abreu and his followers have created a program in Venezuela that is so universally valued throughout the country that any cuts to it would be unfathomable to politicians as well as to the community. The Arts Education Unified Statement signed by more than sixty national arts organizations in the United States is an encouraging signal of bringing different music education organizations together in advocacy efforts.²⁰ National cooperation among professional orchestral and music/arts education organizations will be necessary to make any significant changes in funding priorities. In addition, local community groups and organizations need guidance from national leaders and associations to successfully advocate in their communities. Where El Sistema has been most successful is in creating a “clear unity of vision among the community, program, and stakeholders.”²¹ Furthermore, El Sistema has built the necessary human and financial resources to create a program that has survived political turmoil over three decades. El Sistema’s success is not in the creation of a new orchestral teaching method. It is in the creation of a unified advocacy and financial support system.

Most significantly, if we do develop the public and political will and the demand for adequate funding for orchestral training for all interested young people regardless of socioeconomic class, the biggest challenge will lie before us—how to sustain it. While the task of creating national support for accessible orchestral training can seem daunting, the task of surviving changes in political shifts, grantor priorities, and changes in funding trends will be the greatest challenge of all. Music educators in the United States already know that we need to continue to remove barriers to access for quality orchestral music education. Our challenge is to continue to find new ways to make this case to our government leaders and grant organizations. If this task seems impossible, we should remember the words of José Abreu: “Start small, and work with a dedicated group of teachers.”²²