HOLA in Newsweek

In a recent Newsweek article about Gustavo Dudamel, members of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela talked about their visit to HOLA:

Dudamel’s efforts to conjoin his past with his future legacy were thrown into stark relief on a recent afternoon at Heart of Los Angeles, a nonprofit after-school program for underprivileged kids in L.A.’s gritty Rampart district, which houses one of the city’s two El Sistema nucleos. Some 20 members of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra were giving tutorials on cello and violin to the appreciative and surprisingly well-behaved elementary students. “When we see the children play, it’s like going back in time to watch ourselves learning how to play,” says Manuel Jurado, 20, of the Bolívar Symphony. The young Venezuelans made no secret of how they revere the Dude as something between a national hero and an inspirational icon. “He’s kind of a god for us,” says Bolívar Symphony assistant conductor Jesús Parra, 17. “He’s opened the doors for many conductors to believe in what they do. Out of thousands of children, Gustavo is the main example of what El Sistema can create.”

For the full article, click Bravo, Gustavo! How Maestro Dudamel Is Saving Classical Music.