Publisher Description
An eye-opening view of the unprecedented global spread of El Sistema—intensive music education that disrupts the cycles of poverty.
In some of the bleakest corners of the world, an unprecedented movement is taking root. From the favelas of Brazil to the Maori villages in New Zealand, from occupied Palestine to South Central Los Angeles, musicians with strong social consciences are founding intensive orchestra programs for children in need.
In this captivating and inspiring account, authors Tricia Tunstall and Eric Booth tell the remarkable story of the international El Sistema movement. A program that started over four decades ago with a handful of music students in a parking garage in Caracas, El Sistema has evolved into one of classical music's most vibrant new expressions and one of the world's most promising social initiatives. Now with more than 700,000 students in Venezuela, El Sistema's central message—that music can be a powerful tool for social change—has burst borders to grow in sixty-four countries across the globe.
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A remarkable narrative with broad appeal to everyone from sociologists to general readers, this is one of the best recent books promoting social change.
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Library Journal Starred Review
About the Authors
Eric Booth, one of 2015’s Fifty Most Influential Leaders in American Nonprofit Arts, is a celebrated teacher, actor, writer, director, and businessman. A longtime faculty member at Juilliard and Lincoln Center Education, he is the author of The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible and winner of America’s highest award in arts education.
Tricia Tunstall is the author of Changing Lives: Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema, and the Transformative Power of Music and Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson. A leading advocate for the importance of music education in children’s development, she consults with El Sistema programs in the United States and internationally.
About Bob Souer
Bob Souer is a full-time professional storyteller, voice actor, and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. He has narrated broadcast and nonbroadcast projects for corporations and ministries across North America. His voice has been heard on PBS, the History Channel, the Military Channel, and many other networks. He has also narrated radio and television programs for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, D. James Kennedy Ministries, SIM, and Compassion International.