From August 21 to 28 at the Center for Social Action through Music, a group of New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) educators – Violinists Mark Churchill (NEC Dean of Preparatory and Continuing Education) Donald Weilerstein, Yuri Namkung, Lynn Chang, Mai Motobuchi, Kristopher Tong and Nicholas Kitchen; viola player Craig Mumm, clarinetist William Amsel,  bassoonist Natalya Rose Vrbsky and saxophonist Erik Holmgrenamong, among others–  will be in Venezuela giving seminars on master classes and chamber music to the members of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela.

Some Venezuelan professors will also be conducting the seminars, namely Javier Montilla (flautist), Ulises Aragón and Liber Oscher (horn players), Melisa Sánchez and Miguel Sánchez (trombonists), Héctor Barrios (bassoonist), Valdemar Rodríguez (clarinetist), and Frank Di Polo (viola player), and David Ascanio.

These seminars are part of an academic exchange program between the New England Conservatory of Music and the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras.

During the seminars, the Simón Bolívar Big Band Jazz and the Borromeo Quartet will be in charge of performing for the NEC educators.

This is the second visit paid by members of the NEC to El Sistema this year. Last March, Mark Churchill and the “Abreu Fellows” came to our country to study El Sistema with the idea of developing socio-cultural programs in the United States based upon El Sistema’s philosophy.

During that visit Mark Churchill described the music education program founded by maestro Abreu 35 years ago as an extraordinary project and added that they wanted to join efforts to set up El Sistema programs out of Venezuela.