21/05/2008
Venezuelan Children and Youth Orchestra win the Prince Philip of Asturias Art Award in Spain

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Children and Youth Orchestra System (Sistema de Orquesta Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela - Fesnojiv) won the Prince Philip of Asturias Art Award 2008 for combining artistic quality with the objective of “improving social reality”.

 The president of the jury, José Lladó, stated that this distinction has been awarded due to the great achievement of merging “the utmost artist quality with a profound ethical conviction aimed at improving social reality” when announcing the winner of the award in Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias in Northern Spain.

The organisers of the event stated that El Sistema was the judge’s favourite amongst the other finalists; the Japanese architect, Tadao Ando and the French Orchestra director and composer, Pierre Boulez.

El Sistema was founded thirty years ago by the Venezuelan economist and musician José Antonio Abreu, with the aim of using music to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Along with world wide renowned persons El Sistema, created by maestro Abreu, has led to the formation of many conductors and musicians of the highest level, due to his (Abreu’s) confidence in the value of musical education for human dignity”, added Lladó.

The organization was created in 1975, and has transformed into “an exceptional social and educational movement for spreading art, according to the organisers of the awards, who note that “more than 15,000 teachers from different countries have given classes to more than 600,000 youths across the country, giving particular attention to those with a lower family income”.

“It’s an indescribable honour to receive this award” declared Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles, who was himself trained by El Sistema. Last weekend, the young 27 year-old conductor, conducted the Spanish National Orchestra (ONE) for the very first time.

Commenting on Abreu, Dudamel said that “there are not sufficient words to thank Abreu for providing us with a path full of possibilities and the opportunity of celebrating life through music (that) can save lives, rescuing the dreams and illusions of thousands of young children and adolescents.

The musician, who deems himself “an absolute product of El Sistema”, also said that the award is “a giant encouragement to continue the struggle and playing music” and “continue multiplying by millions this beautiful idea that, without a doubt, has the capacity of changing society by providing sensitivity, faith  and hope to future generations”.

Granting this award to El Sistema “is the right decision because this project portrays unlike any other, the existential nature of music” which “is a way of living rather than a profession” said the director of the Israel-Argentine Orchestra Daniel Barenboim, winner of the Prince of Asturias Concord Award in 2002.

The Art Award is the first of 8 prizes, presented by the Prince of Asturias each year, accompanied by 50,000 euros each and a sculpture created especially for the awards by contemporary Spanish artist Joan Miró, that carries the name of the heir to the Spanish crown, Phillip de Borbón.

Barenboim, the Spanish Chancellor, Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Ibero-american General Secretary, and Enrique Iglesias, among others, supported the Venezuelan candidacy.

The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo next autumn.

On previous occasions the award has been bestowed upon the American singer Bob Dylan, the American film-maker Woody Allen, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, the Chilean painter Roberto Matta and the Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo.

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