Yesterday, Thursday, 7 February President Danilo Medina awarded Venezuelan musician, composer, pianist, teacher and economist Jose Antonio Abreu with the order of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, in the rank of Knight. Abreu was visiting on the occasion of the two performances by his pupil, Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra at the National Theater in Santo Domingo on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 February. First Lady Candida Montilla, Vice President Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez and Minister of Culture Jose Antonio Rodriguez attended the ceremony.
Abreu is best known for having founded El Sistema, a program that has been helping Venezuelan children become involved in classical music since 1975. The System now includes more than 100 youth orchestras, 55 children’s orchestras and 270 music schools in Venezuela, with around 300,000 young musicians.
Abreu is commended for his use of music education to help poor children achieve their full potential and acquire values that help them develop as good citizens.
Abreu has said: “Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values – solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings.”
Upon receiving the honor at the Presidential Palace, Abreu said he was accepting it in the name of the Venezuelan music teachers who have worked with him for 40 years in the creation, construction and development of the National System of the Orchestras, Youth and Children Choirs of Venezuela that he described as a social program that creates citizens who benefit the country.
“We have worked to bring the pleasure, privilege and treasures of music to middle and low-income young people and children. We are convinced that music in the life of a child and a youth will profoundly transform him, and prepare him to look at the world with brighter eyes and turn him into a good citizen,” he said.
Abreu said that since the start of his work he has been connected with young Dominican musicians and recognized the qualities of Dominican Darwin Aquino, director of the local youth orchestra. “He has been and is a pioneer of the musical relationship between young people and is also an outstanding violinist, conductor and excellent composer, an emblematic figure of Dominican musical youth.
The Venezuelan maestro said he came to strengthen the ties between both nations and expressed his appreciation for the generous invitation by the Fundacion Sinfonia and the Dominican government. He said they hoped to work to build a permanent cooperation and exchange program for young people from both countries and the creation of a bi-national youth orchestra to develop social and artistic teaching programs with common objectives.
He called on President Danilo Medina to give his personal push to the project and for the National Youth Symphony under Aquino to visit Venezuela as soon as possible.
Speaking at the event, Darwin Aquino said: “I think this is a exciting day for all Dominicans, not only for musicians because the orchestra system is a social, educational and cultural program that uses classical music and orchestras, as has occurred in Venezuela, to change the lives of children and young people, to prevent violence, and to give a high moral value to each of their lives, creating opportunities through music.”