Comments on: El Sistema: Changing Lives Through Music
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- I am a piano teacher and church musician and just saw this "60 Minutes" segment on the web. I have donated many free piano lessons over the years and would love to see an update on this inspirational El Sistema program. Hope Bob Simon can tell us good news about the last 4 years. As an art major/music minor in college, I am equally disappointed in the number of ART programs no longer available in schools - as I was given wonderful training in ALL the Arts from the 1st grade through high school. The salary for my grandson's music teacher is paid by his PTA (but not many PTAs can afford that).
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- Hello,
I am currently in the developing stages of creating the first music program based on El Sistema in NJ. I am a native Venezuelan who has lived in the US for the last 18 years and know first hand the impact this program has had in my home country. Please e-mail me at ucmusicproject@gmail.com and I can give you more details. We are just working on our website and social media sites. We need instruments and any other kind of support you may be able to give us. Thanks! Melina - Reply to this comment
- We would like to promote a link to Gustavo Dudamel's 'El Sistema' program and help to support and promote it. Where can we get information.
http://www.MUSIClassical.com - Reply to this comment
- today, 0ct 12,2009, I tried to watch your 2 videos: El Sistema and Gustavo the Great but could not get them to play. Have they both been worn out? Can they be refreshed? I want to share them with other friends. Thank you. DD
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- Everyone told me about this story on El Sistema when it aired last summer, but I didn't see it until yesterday. I'm inspired all over again to bring a program like this to Birmingham, AL. In Jan 2007, I began donating my retirement and then all my savings to start Scrollworks--$53,000 so far. We teach free music lessons to anyone who walks in the door at two locations. Our goal, though, is to train young musicians so that they can participate in our youth orchestras. We have made great progress. We're teaching over 300 students a week this summer. In the fall we will be revamping our program at an inner city elementary school to more closely follow El Sistema's model--a 'music intensive' after school at least two days a week. Bringing El Sistema to the US is hard work but it is so worth it!
Jeane Goforth
CEO, Metropolitan Youth Orchestras of Central Alabama
700 8th Ave W, Birmingham, AL 35204
205-908-8843
http://www.myorch.org/
http://metroyo.blogspot.com/
http://jeane-metroyo.blogspot.com/ - Reply to this comment
- For those of you passionate to bring El Sistema to the world, please join the Causes page (http://apps.facebook.com/causes/290357), give & help spread awareness for this incredible initiative.
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- My generation was one of the lucky ones -- public schools provided us with music appreciation classes, drama, chorus, band, orchestra . . . and we are the better for it. The Arts have provided uncountable hours of both pleasure and meditation over the years. Music is truly the universal language.
Unfortuantely, as mentioned in an earlier posting, arts programs are the first to suffer from budget cuts as less and less federal funds are alloted to our public schools. And yet our polititians still wonder why school dropouts and violence are ever on the increase while our position among the world''s educated nations continues to plummet. - Reply to this comment
- I would also like to know where to send a donation! Please give us an address! I have a clarinet and a flute I would love to send them!
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- I would like to know how/where to donate money and /or instruments.
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- Anyone involved in music and the arts knows their power. Unfortunately, most Americans miss that experience. Arts programs are the first things to be cut when school budgets get tight. If you want to convince your school administrators why music is worth funding, check out this web site...Reasons to Study Music:
http://www.winstonmusic.net/instructionreasons.htm - Reply to this comment
