Today the Abreu fellows had the honour of being inducted into the Fundación del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, also known by the rather unlovely acronym FESNOJIV, but more universally shortened to el Sistema. FESNOJIV conductor, teacher and administrator Roberto Zambrano visited us at the New England Conservatory and presented us with the official … I’m reluctant to call it a “medal”, but “regalia” has all the trappings of royalty (for obvious etymological reasons) or worse, academia. Sigillum? Something bright and shiny that was hung around our necks on broad ribbons bearing the national colours of Venezuela. It was a lovely and very kind gesture, and if you will permit me to borrow a phrase, I shall say I consider it a “call to action.” The reverse of the violin bears the motto of the movement in Venezuela, “Tocar y Luchar”, or “To play and to Struggle.”
Jonathan Andrew Govias 