In 2013, I reviewed Tunstall's Changing Lives: Gustav Dudamel, El Sistema, and the Transformative Power of Music for BJME, noting that there were then few critical studies of El Sistema [ES] (Miller, Reference MILLER2013). Professor Geoffrey Baker says that book is still the ‘principal English-language book’ on El Sistema, a programme which is the largest cultural organisation in Venezuela, now with a worldwide reach. His own volume, however, is very different, and, as a work of scholarship, addresses that deficit head on. Baker set out to study ES after being impressed by the now famous appearance of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra at the Proms in London in 2007, soon discovering that there was relatively little information publicly accessible despite ES existing since 1975. In El Sistema: Orchestrating Venezuela's Youth the author takes an ethnographic approach and describes his work as ‘activist ethnomusicology’ (p. 18) concerned with ‘analysing perceptions, meanings, and the construction of social worlds’ (p. 19); he also draws on a diverse body of material including Spanish-language sources, to offer an analysis of the programme in Venezuela itself and a broader assessment of its effectiveness as a vehicle for musical and social education.
Part one, ‘The Institution and Its Leaders’, assesses the role of founder ‘El Maestro’ José Antonio Abreu, the flagship Simón Bolívar Orchestra, the functioning of ES as an organisation, and socio- demographic aspects of its work. Part two, ‘Music Education’, considers ES in relation to current debates on the usefulness of the orchestral model, the western art music canon in music education, and learning and teaching. In part three, ‘Social Education’, Baker looks at the role of ES as a ‘social project’, focusing on issues of social inclusion, discipline, democracy and competition, questioning the extent to which ES really demonstrates progressive practices. The final section of the book, ‘Impact’, scrutinises the influence of ES in terms of politics and economics (Abreu's initial training and employment), Venezuelan culture, and future plans.
A key question Baker asks is why there has been little critical examination of and informed debate about ES. He attributes this in large part to the influence of a belief system on all those involved with the organisation, a factor which significantly affected his attempts to access information about ES. The divergence of the rhetoric of ES and the ‘everyday realities’ for participants forms a main theme of the book. Such is the power of ES as an employer in Venezuela that Baker's concern to preserve the anonymity of his approximately one hundred interviewees pervades the book, lending an air of sleuthing to his project.
BJME readers will be particularly interested in the second section of the book where Baker engages with music education debates. He questions the use of the hierarchical model of the orchestra as a pedagogical tool and an idealized community, likening it to businesses where roles are ranked according to status or authority, rather than a more horizontal and democratic approach encouraging collaboration. Arguments of current scholars are marshalled in favour of creativity and problem-solving in music education, and Baker underlines the important distinction between training and education. Various sources express concerns about the demanding workload and narrow curriculum at ES, and the focus on rehearsing intensively for performance, with one suggesting the programme was creating not musicians but players (p. 145).
Issues of inclusion raised in section three again highlight ES's rhetoric of social action as opposed to the reality of practice, and question the assumption that the ‘centre’ (of geographical, financial, or political power) has what the periphery lacks. Baker invokes the significant body of music education literature which argues for multicultural and diverse musical experiences, suggesting that exclusion can be cultural as well as social, and that where the only music programme on offer is ES children may not only be deprived of the opportunity to encounter a broader range of music and learn to respect difference, but also experience the marginalisation of cultures to which they are already attached.
Baker refers to other projects in Latin America, such as Brazil's Pontos de Cultura, which aims to increase the agency of participants by supporting and developing cultural forms which are extant in the community. He cites progressive alternatives in the UK such as the Musical Futures approach to learning and teaching, and by contrast, a small, community fiddle organisation in rural Scotland which has been largely self-funded and sustained for 20 years (http://www.blackfordfiddlers.org.uk/).
Proposing that the real success of ES has been one of arts administration, harnessing financial and political support, ‘putting the idea of social action through music on the international public agenda’, and ‘[opening] up an extraordinary space for music education’ (pp. 321–2), Baker urges further research into El Sistema and its offshoots, saying that ‘Sistema-inspired’ projects such as those in the UK may offer a way forward. He suggests that these programmes are already more thoroughly monitored and evaluated, and target disadvantaged children more effectively than in Venezuela, where: ‘at present, there are no rigorous studies and little scholarly backing to support claims of miraculous social effects’ (Baker, Reference BAKER2016). This searching study challenges all music educators to be alert to the issues raised and to constantly reflect on how we employ music in the name of education.
