El Sistema (Blu-ray)

Spend a year with the Venezuelan children who use music as a means of transcending poverty, discovering responsibility, and leading meaningful lives in this documentary about El Sistema and its founder José Antonio Abreu. In Caracas, the crime rate is as high as the hope for a brighter future is dim. Abreu was well aware of the challenges faced by children there, and founded El Sistema as a means of giving them a head start in life. A strong network of music centers, workshops, and youth and children's orchestras, El Sistema was founded thirty years ago, and still flourishes into the 21st Century. The program not only encourages musical proficiency, but personal growth and development as well, and it seems to be working. As of 2009, there were 250,000 children who were tapping into their musical talents thanks to Abreu, and the numbers keep growing. With such prestigious program graduates as Berlin Philharmonic double bass player Edicson Ruiz and prolific young conductor Gustavo Dudamel making waves in the world of music, the results of the El Sistema program speak for themselves.