UpBeat featured on Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project
El Sistema
February 10th, 2011
by Paul Keegan
Brought to you by Liberty Mutual’s The Responsibility Project
I was in a Brooklyn nightclub four years ago, killing time with my jazz band between sets, when I was introduced to Jaime Austria. The first thing I noticed were his eyes: warm, curious, full of play and wonder, childlike in the best sense. We exchanged pleasantries, and he began rambling excitedly about a Venezuelan music program called El Sistema that was transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids from drug-torn barrios and creating some of the most moving, transcendent music he had ever heard. After a few minutes, I was due back on stage, but Jaime wouldn’t let me go; he gestured, grabbed my arm, and pulled me close to explain how Placido Domingo had cried while listening to those amazing kids play Handel’s “Messiah.” Soon I was on his email list, getting passionate notes about this revolutionary movement: “I HAVE NEVER HEARD A FULL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PLAY A MAMBO LIKE THIS!!!”