News
El Sistema is spreading throughout the world, and Sistema New Brunswick is helping to lead the way.
New Brunswick Youth Orchestra president and CEO Ken MacLeod and Sistema NB music director and conductor Anthony Delgado were in Seoul last week at the invitation of South Korea's Culture Ministry, advising it on the establishment of its own Sistema program.
Founded in Venezuela and brought here as an affiliate of the N.B. Youth Orchestra, Sistema is a free, not-for-profit music program that fosters discipline, co-operation, confidence and hope for hundreds of young children who might otherwise never have the opportunity to play an instrument, let alone play in an orchestra.
Delgado and MacLeod made presentations to more than 200 educators and 150 teaching artists from the new El Sistema Korea as part of International Arts Education Week, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO.
MacLeod said from Seoul on Saturday that the Korean government is very supportive of bringing arts and culture to people from all walks of life and has recognized the Sistema program as one way of doing that.
MacLeod said he wasn't surprised.
'In many parts of the world there's an interest in the capacity of music to aid social engagement,' he said. 'There are now Sistemainspired programs in more than 60 countries.' Sistema New Brunswick is the largest in Canada, and because it has a stable platform of government, corporate and community support, it has flourished.
Being asked by South Korea to share Sistema New Brunswick's success story speaks to how well the program and its Venezualan-born conductor - himself a Sistema success story - are regarded.
'All New Brunswickers have a stake in Sistema N.B.,' MacLeod said. 'I think it's something we can all be proud of.' He said the organization and its South Korean hosts also started discussions on setting up an official music exchange between the two countries.
