José Antonio Abreu

Abreu should have been honoured with the Nobel Prize for Peace. His legacy, however, persists and will always be a message of hope for all of those who – firmly believing in Art, in Dialogue, and in Humanity – do not cease to work for a better society. José Antonio Abreu left us on the 24th of March 2018. Amici della Scala remembers him as such:

Scholar, musician, pedagogist, a former minister of culture in his country, Venezuelan José Antonio Abreu, an Amici della Scala Honorary Member, passed away at the age of 78 after a long battle with disease. A legendary figure: he was well-known around the globe as the creator of “El Sistema”, a public and free education network aimed at keeping teenagers away from drugs, saving them from a life of misery, delinquency and prostitution, and instead steering them towards the wonderful discovery of music. It is estimated that over 2 million youths have been saved thanks to the music of “El Sistema”. Quirino Principe calls Abreu a “Liberator of lives and notes”.