The academic Geoff Baker, emeritus professor at Royal Holloway University of London, has published a reflection on the 50th anniversary of the music education system that has become a propaganda instrument of a criminal regime.
He concludes:
The international future of El Sistema depends on whether the classical sector is finally ready to confront this complex reality or whether it will continue to settle for the comforting myth. Most pressingly, will the music industry carry on embracing the cultural emissary of a brutal dictatorship? Or will it now, as Duchen suggests, wash its hands?
2025 has seen more public debate in the UK than at any time since 2014. Some journalists have paid closer attention. But there are still classical music leaders and writers who are willing to downplay the problems, ignore the research, and tiptoe around Dudamel’s political connections. Doing so may benefit El Sistema and their own fiefdoms and legacies, but sweeping major failings under the carpet ultimately serves neither music education nor the culture of classical music. They would do better to heed the alarms that have sounded repeatedly since the 1990s.
The El Sistema myth is unlikely to disappear any time soon: the Venezuelan regime is invested in it, the music industry sees it as a winning formula, and a global advocacy network is committed to keeping it alive. Dudamel and some other Venezuelan conductors continue to serve as influential cheerleaders; the myth is a key part of their brand. But the days when El Sistema looked like a bright future for classical music are long gone.
Full article here.
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