Venezuela – Part 2

The Partial Observer published the second in my series of articles about the fascinating program of classical music in Venezuela. This article focuses on an interview I conducted with the program’s founder and director, José Antonio Abreu.

Beginning To Look At Venezuela

The Partial Observer published the first in a series of articles today which begins to examine the astounding music program that’s evolved in Venezuela over the past three decades. In addition to the series of articles which will be published at The Partial Observer, there will be several more articles published here which will focus on more details than space at The Partial Observer allows. There’s a great deal to examine …

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An Early Look At Venezuela

The Boston Globe published an article today by Indira A. R. Lakshmanan about the remarkable work which is going on in Venezuela.  Indira was along for the first few days of the same trip I recently attended (although Indira left just as I was coming in).  It’s an excellent article which provides anyone with the fundamental information necessary to begin building a picture of what’s happening over there.  In addition to …

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Upcoming Adventures In Venezuela

Starting Thursday, I’ll be away for several days as I’ve been invited to Caracas, Venezuela to follow Benjamin Zander and the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at the New England Conservatory as they perform along side the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra. Although the trip has been put together last minute, I’m fully expecting it to be a very rewarding experience.  Furthermore, the trip should produce some timely follow up material to the articles about …

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#TBT El Sistema After José Abreu’s Death

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Saturday, 3/24/2018 was a sad day with the news that El Sistema founder José Abreu passed away. I was fortunate to experience the program first-hand in 2005 (thanks to Ben Zander and the New England Conservatory Youth Orchestra for inviting me along to chronicle their tour). That visit included an interview Abreu, which became the source for an article in a four-part series about El Sistema. Back in 2005, Venezuela was …

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