Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra facts for kids
The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (Spanish: Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela) is a Venezuelan orchestra. Named after the Venezuelan national hero Simón Bolívar, it was initially the apex of the nation's system of youth orchestras. By 2011, it was no longer officially a youth orchestra as many of its members remained with the orchestra and the average age had risen to the early 20's. It was replaced as the national youth orchestra by the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra.
The economist José Antonio Abreu established the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar on 12 February 1978. Gustavo Dudamel has been the orchestra's artistic director since 1999. The orchestra has worked with many famous conductors including Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle.
Mission and background
Venezuela's youth orchestras are run under the auspices of the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar (FMSB), formerly known as the Fundacion del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, known colloquially as El Sistema.
Based in Caracas, the orchestra moved its home in 2007 from the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex to a new Center for Social Action Through Music nearby. The name of the center reflects the fact that El Sistema sees itself as a social agency: Most of its music students come from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
Discography
The orchestra and Dudamel have made four recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, one of Beethoven; one of Mahler one of Tchaikovsky; and a collection of Latin American music.
The orchestra previously released other recordings, including several ballet pieces, in the early 1990s on the Dorian Recordings label.
See also
In Spanish: Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar para niños
- List of youth orchestras
