Venezuela: Claudio Abbado to conduct the Latin American Youth Orchestra

Claudio Abbado to conduct the Latin American Youth Orchestra

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Andean Development Corporation, CAF, and 30 years of the Venezuela System of Youth and Children's Orchestras, the Italian maestro will conduct on January 22 and 23 the concerts of this orchestra formed by 260 young musicians from Latin America and the Caribbean. The event is sponsored by Banco de Venezuela/Grupo Santander, Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Teresa Carreño Foundation, CANTV, and the embassies of Italy and Holland.

The maestro Claudio Abbado, who is considered the most important conductor of the contemporary era, has been training and staging the Latin American Youth Orchestra since the start of the year, strengthening the Social Action Program for Music promoted by the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), and as preparatory phase of the CAF Latin American Youth Symphony Orchestra which this multilateral institution is also promoting.

The inaugural concerts of the orchestra, scheduled for January 22 and 23 in the Ríos Reyna Room of the Teresa Carreño Theater, are sponsored by Banco de Venezuela/Grupo Santander, the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Teresa Carreño Foundation, CANTV and the embassies of Italy and Holland, with the collaboration of other organizations such as Venezuela Sin Limites, Shell de Venezuela, Digitel Tim, Aerolink, Italian Institute of Culture and Giovanni Scutaro. The event continues the commemorative activities of the 35th anniversary of the CAF and 30th of the Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras.

The concert of the Latin American Youth Orchestra - formed by 260 musicians aged 16 to 24 from all the countries of South and Central America and some of the Caribbean – under the direction of Abbado, is an unprecedented artistic event in the recent history of classical music in the region. It is also evidence of the international recognition and prestige of the CAF Social Action Program for Music, which also sponsors the Andean and Latin American Youth Symphony Orchestras, Andean Choral Voices (VAC), the Andean Traveling Conservatory (CAI) and the Andean Lute Workshop (TIAL).

Prior to the concerts, maestro Abbado will direct the First Workshop 2005 of the CAF Andean Traveling Conservatory - created in 2001 - backing this innovative option, which provides musical education for children and young people from underprivileged communities, as a tool of social integration. The Conservatory will include a large group of young people from Latin America (two to four from each country) and, as special guests of Abbado, a group of musicians selected by the Cuban Philharmonic Orchestra. As an initiative of the CAF, young Haitians will also participate for the first time as a gesture of solidarity to this Caribbean people in their critical situation.

The program selected for the concerts will be held on Saturday 22nd at 7pm and Sunday 23rd at 6pm consists of the Symphonic Poem La Mer and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

A descendant of a family of musicians, Claudio Abbado studied in Milan and Vienna. He won the Kusevitski prize in 1958 and the Dmitri prize in 1963. He was musical and artistic director of La Scala of Milan from 1968 to 1986; the London Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1989; the Vienna State Opera from 1986 to 1991; and the Berlin Philharmonic from 1989 (recently succeeded by Sir Simon Rattle). In 1987 he formed the Mahler Orchestra in Vienna. He has premiered works of Manzoni and Nono, and recorded the most important symphonic cycles: Brahms symphonies and choral music, and the symphonies of Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Dvorak and Mozart.

For Banco de Venezuela/Grupo Santander, sponsorship of the Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras is a great satisfaction, sharing the conviction that music is a force capable of creating opportunities for underprivileged children and young people, converting them into human treasures who make possible the building of a better country.

Through its contributions to the Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras, Banco de Venezuela/Grupo Santander joins the untiring work of the CAF, whose programs for young people and children are aimed at transforming the social structure through the experience of art.