One afternoon in 1975, in a garage in Caracas, Venezuela, the then 36-year-old music professor and economist José Antonio Abreu began a crusade that seemed completely utopian. He wanted to save as many children as possible from poverty, the streets and criminality, by teaching them free of charge classical music and making them members of a classical Symphony Orchestra.

“There was nothing like the first rehearsal”, reminisces the 74-year old conductor today. “It is the moment I remember with the greatest passion. The rest was a great everyday thrill.”

Only 11 children came to that first rehearsal. But the seed had already been planted in the ground, giving birth to what would later become globally known as EL SISTEMA (The System). An education system and at the same time a weapon against poverty. A tool for social change. An attempt to change the world through music!