(1 ) Music education programs vary greatly from country to country: the school bell rings, signaling the end of the school day, and all the children race to the nearest music center, or núcleo. They play violins, clarinets, drums and other instruments for hours, learning techniques from teachers and from their peers—and this publicly-funded music instruction is open to all children. What you're picturing might sound like a fantasy, but in the South American nation of Venezuela, El Sistema (“The System”), a comprehensive music education program that serves over 300,000 children, is a reality.

[1] El Sistema, the nickname for the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar, was founded in 1975 by Dr. José Antonio Abreu. [2] He envisioned this government-funded program not only as a vehicle for music instruction, but also for social change. [3] Disappointed that Venezuela did not have its own (2) orchestra—Abreu wanted to educate children about classical music on the national level. [4] By providing safe spaces for children from crime-ridden neighborhoods to practice music, the government would be both protecting children and showing them that there were other avenues to success than criminal activity. [5] Abreu also believed that the opportunity to play music is a basic human right, and he wanted to (3) reinsure that all children had access to it. (4)  

The Venezuelan government began implementing Abreu’s ideas right (5) away, by the end of 1975, it had opened the first núcleo. More soon opened, and students congregated (6) together at these centers after school to play music. Children could attend classes from an early age: two-year-olds started learning the basics of rhythm even before they reached the regular classroom. The number of núcleos has grown from just a few in the beginning to over 300 today. They now operate from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week, and the government (7) funding every facet of the program, from the instruments to the teachers. Over 800,000 young Venezuelans have learned music through El Sistema in the 40 years since (8) their inception.

El Sistema has (9) propelled some of these young people into music careers. In 2002, Edicson Ruiz, a product of El Sistema, became Berlin Philharmonic’s youngest professional bass player at age 17. Gustavo Dudamel, another graduate of the program, is the music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar and became the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009. (10) As Abreu says, “A child’s physical poverty is overcome by the spiritual richness that music provides.” (11) Abreu’s bold idea—to provide music education for all—has launched a few music careers, but even more importantly, it has given almost a million children the joy of playing music