Early in the new year I had a conversation with an aspiring Sistema program in the US. I call them “aspiring” because they as yet are only able to offer one group rehearsal per week, which makes them no different from any of the other conventional youth orchestra programs in the nation, no matter … Continue reading Dollars and Sense – Part 2
Is it possible – or even desirable – to achieve economies of scale? Are social benefits greater in large groups or in smaller, more compact sub-communities? Should programs cast wide nets and aim to reach as many individuals as possible, or focus intensive resources on just a few individuals of greatest need and at greatest risk?
The news wasn’t widely reported, but in late February of this year the Fundación del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, more commonly known by the unlovely acronym FESNOJIV, was rechristened as the “Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar”, or FundaMusical Bolívar for short. (I have taken it upon … Continue reading Advocating Sistema
To set the stage… As part of the conclusion to my keynote at the University of Western Ontario LME Conference back in May, I made two general but connected observations on the international Sistema movement. The first of the two highlighted an issue many of the privately-funded Sistema initiatives face: with annual or similar short-term … Continue reading And the most controversial thing I said in London Ontario was…
Whenever I've presented or written on el Sistema in the past year and a half, I've usually described the scope of the program by referring to its 180-plus núcleos. The senior member of the Fundabol who gave me that number in early 2010 mentioned at the same time the expectation for significant growth. How … Continue reading A quick guide to hiring teachers for Sistema programs – by popular demand
Love her or hate her, Chinese Tiger Mom Amy Chua has a point: things are a lot of more fun when you're good at them. I remember after my first ski lesson coming home, bruised and battered, muscles aching, covered in snow, pleading with my mother never to send me back to the slopes. … Continue reading Confidence Trick Part 2
And here is the final installment of the 10-part la Scena series. Endings are always difficult, and I'm not going to claim I did nearly a year's worth of writing, nor Sistema itself any kind of justice at any point, let alone the end. But whatever your sentiments about what happens in Venezuela, there's … Continue reading Over to you…and Oslo
She’s nine months and some now, and in some ways I’ve already planned part of her life for her, a fraction of the fraction for which I can reasonably and legitimately take responsibility, even as I assuredly will wane in relevance and influence in her eyes long before such period expires. It’s natural to … Continue reading Things I want for my daughter
At some point in the closing remarks of my keynote in London ON two weeks ago I uttered something to the effect of: "The tremendous irony is that we're rushing to emulate el Sistema's practice from 10 years ago while they're rushing to emulate the best of ours." This was apparently highly provocative, although … Continue reading It’s Stradurday! Again!
Last week during the el Sistema day in London ON, I had the pleasure of hearing Katherine Carleton, Executive Director of Orchestras Canada (the Canadian equivalent of the League of American Orchestras) give a brief synopsis of the Canadian orchestral industry's level of interest in the Venezuelan program. I deeply regret not having had … Continue reading An orchestrated downfall
Jonathan Andrew Govias 