Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra to Tour US

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The internationally acclaimed Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela will perform this evening (Friday) at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston. It will be the first concert in a US tour that will also include performances on Monday in Washington D.C. and Friday in Chicago, Ill., sponsored by CITGO Petroleum Corporation.

For 32 years, the orchestra has brought culture and opportunity to 240,000 Venezuelan children and given many impoverished young musicians the professional training to perform with some of the world’s best-known orchestras. This model has been so successful that it is now being replicated in other countries, including the United States. The orchestra was developed under the leadership of Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu who had a vision of creating a national system of youth orchestras in Venezuela dedicated to changing young lives through music.

Director Gustavo Dudamel is the most famous example of what this system of youth orchestras has accomplished, and he is passing on his enthusiasm and musical knowledge here in the United States. The work of the orchestra is a tribute to music as a universal language and what it can accomplish in terms of bringing different peoples and nations together for the common good.

Houston April 3:

Washington D.C. April 10:
Sold Out!

Chicago April 9-11:
Please note that space is limited and priority for reservations will be given to student groups. To reserve seats, call (312) 294-3044 or e-mail institute@cso.org.

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