Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas at the Lisinski Concert Hall

On November 8th, one of the numerous events taking place at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall will be a performance by the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas –one of Venezuela’s greatest successes in the struggle against poverty, which is a part of the educational music organization called El Sistema.

On November 8th, the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall will be the venue for a performance by the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas, which is comprised of young musicians between the ages of 14 and 23. The orchestra was formed for a truly great cause in 1975 by musician, as well as great enthusiast and humanist - José Antonio Abreu, who initially formed an orchestra made up of 11 children in a Caracas garage. This visionary laid the foundations of the Venezuelan music education programme known as El Sistema, a system of orchestras composed of children from the poorest suburbs and slums in Venezuela. The goal is to get the children of the most vulnerable age off the streets and away from crime and poverty. These orchestras provide children and young people to learn to play an instrument for free, on the condition that they attend daily rehearsals and perform together with the rest of the orchestra.

There are currently several hundred such orchestras within the system across Venezuela, and hundreds of thousands of children who have learned to play music in them. Some have become professional musicians, while music related activities helped others discover the right path for themselves and choose a profession that ensures a good standard of living. One of the most important achievements of this educational music system is certainly the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Caracas, the members of which were trained not only by maestro José Antonio Abreu and their current young conductor - Dietrich Paredes, but also by numerous other renowned Venezuelan as well as foreign conductors, such as Gustav Dudamel, etc.

Tickets for the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas concerts, priced between 120 and 200 kuna apiece, can be purchased at the box office of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall or online at www.ulaznice.hr.