Separated from the coastline by 7800 ft. Mt. Avila, the colonial city nestled in a long, green valley surrounded by lushly forested mountains.It has long since outgrown that small settlement, stretching the length of the valley, up the hillsides and into intersecting canyons. (photo)
Venezuela's largest city, Caracas (map of downtown), blends a modern cityscape with a lush, tropical feel. It's noisy as any large city with millions of inhabitants, with traffic jams, dangerous areas to avoid, slums, and a distinct contrast between the levels of society.
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With its proximity to the Caribbean and its altitude, Caracas ( satellite photo) enjoys a mild climate all year long. The day/night temperatures vary by about twenty degrees, with an average of 75°F during the day, with highs reaching the 80s and 90s.
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Many of the finest performers in the classical music world are flocking to Venezuela to the country's youth music education system that teaches kids from the streets to play in orchestras.
Over the next few weeks, a string of eminent musicians will visit the capital Caracas for concerts with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra conducted by 28-year-old Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, one of classical music's hottest properties.
It is Venezuela's premier youth orchestra, made up mostly of teenagers picked from a network of such orchestras set up around the South American country to teach music to children.
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| Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel conducts musicians of El Sistema, The Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra (the Venezuelan musical education program), during a rehearsal in Caracas. AFP PHOTO |
In the system, students from across the country -- from distant Amazon villages to tough Caracas slums -- are recruited to join music schools in which they are given an instrument to play as part of an orchestra.
In recent years, it has been supported by President Hugo Chavez. About 300,000 children are now involved.
"The system has generated a true phenomenon," said Jose Abreu, who founded it in 1975. "World-famous conductors and soloists request to come, they feel proud to take part."
"Emanuel Ax a year ago, for example, was inaccessible, impossible to even dream of contracting, with giant costs, and now he asks to come here, this is now a profound phenomenon," Abreu added.
Abreu started developing his teaching method to get youngsters off the street with a classical musical education focused on ensemble playing.
Perlman, an Israeli-American violinist often said to be among the greatest of the past century, was given a roaring ovation by children from the program brought by bus from all over the country to watch rehearsals this week.
Perlman on Tuesday accompanied Dudamel's orchestra playing Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Beethoven's Violin Concerto. He will give another concert on Wednesday playing Mozart and Beethoven.
"The kids, the young people are so eager to make music and so serious," Perlman told reporters on Wednesday. "I'm kind of speechless."
"I hope so, if they will invite me," Perlman said when asked if he would return to Venezuela.
Proponents say participating in the youth orchestras teaches the children discipline and boosts their self-esteem.
The children continue to attend regular school. Teachers say the music education has markedly reduced truancy even in slums with some of the highest murder rates in the world.
Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has shot to rock-star levels of fame with rapturously received concerts heading the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra across the globe. Youth orchestras inspired by Abreu's methods are being set up in places including Los Angeles, Scotland and Spain.
AHM Travel.com
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