Music of the month

  Jose Antonio Abreu

• He was a Venezuelan conductor who created a music education programme called “El Sistema”, offering hundreds of thousands of children education in music and allowing them the chance to play in orchestras.

• Though not without its critics, the state-funded system gave hope to children in crime and poverty and prompted a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

• ·Known affectionately to his fellow Venezuelans as “Maestro”, Abreu, who died aged 78 on the 25^th of March 2018, was born in Valera in 1939, in a small city in the Andes. His grandparents immigrated to Venezuela from Italy in the 19th century, bringing with them their love of Italian opera.

“In the struggle for human rights, let us vigorously incorporate children’s sublime right to music … Let us reveal to our children the beauty of music and music shall reveal to our children the beauty of life.”