{"product_id":"el-sistema-orchestrating-venezuelas-youth-9780199341559","title":"El Sistema: Orchestrating Venezuela's Youth","description":"The Venezuelan youth orchestra program known as El Sistema has attracted much attention internationally, partly via its flagship orchestra, The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, headed by Gustavo Dudamel, and partly through its claims to use classical music education to rescue vulnerable\u003cbr\u003echildren. Having been met overwhelmingly with praise, The System has become an inspiration for music educators around the globe. Yet, despite its fame, influence, and size - it is projected to number a million students in Venezuela and has spread to dozens of countries - it has been the subject of\u003cbr\u003esurprisingly little scrutiny and genuine debate. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this first full-length critical study of the program, Geoffrey Baker explores the career of its founder, José Antonio Abreu, and the ideology and organizational dynamics of his institution. Drawing on a year of fieldwork in Venezuela and interviews with Venezuelan musicians and cultural figures, \u003cbr\u003eBaker examines El Sistema's program of social action through music, reassessing widespread beliefs about the system as a force for positive social change. Abreu, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, emerges as a complex and controversial figure, whose project is shaped by his religious education, \u003cbr\u003eeconomics training, and political apprenticeship. Claims for the symphony orchestra as a progressive pedagogical tool and motor of social justice are questioned, and assertions that the program prioritizes social over musical goals and promotes civic values such as democracy, meritocracy, and\u003cbr\u003eteamwork are also challenged. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePlacing El Sistema in historical and comparative perspective, Baker reveals that it is far from the revolutionary social program of contemporary imagination, representing less the future of classical music than a step backwards into its past. A controversial and eye-opening account sure to stir\u003cbr\u003edebate, El Sistema is an essential read for anyone curious about this phenomenon in the worlds of classical music, education, and social development.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Geoffrey Baker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 376\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199341559\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/24\/2015 pg. 74\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeoffrey Baker\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Reader in the Music Department at Royal Holloway, University of London. His books include \u003cem\u003eImposing Harmony: Music and Society in Colonial Cuzco\u003c\/em\u003e (2008), which won the American Musicological Society's Robert Stevenson Award, and \u003cem\u003eBuena Vista in the Club\u003c\/em\u003e: \u003cem\u003eRap, Reggaetón, and\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eRevolution in Havana\u003c\/em\u003e (2011). He has also created a series of ethnographic films about childhood music learning in Cuba and Venezuela.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":40377899516019,"sku":"9.7802E+12","price":63.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_620b2bb9-d3dc-4f37-974a-6953224e0693.jpg?v=1661261773","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/el-sistema-orchestrating-venezuelas-youth-9780199341559","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}