OSM, Rafael Payare & La musique aux enfants Launch the Programme El Sistema OSM

Jan 29, 2025

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, its Music Director Rafael Payare, and La musique aux enfants have officially launched their El Sistema-inspired program in Montreal. Over the next 5 years, this program will provide intensive and immersive musical education to more than 600 young people aged 6 to 16. Under the aegis of La musique aux enfants, the Programme El Sistema OSM will enable students to learn, in a group setting, to play an orchestral instrument. Since mid-November, the program has taken root in two schools in Montréal-Nord: Saint-Rémi Elementary School and Calixa-Lavallée Secondary School. Participants from two other schools have also joined the program in January: Aux Milles Voix Secondary School and La Fraternité Elementary School.

In addition to instrument lessons, this enriching program includes various musical activities that support the development of social skills, self-discipline, conscientiousness, and teamwork. The program’s young students engage in a learning environment that is immersive, stimulating, and playful, designed to foster their growth, both musically and personally. The project’s aim is to help each child develop their full potential and become self-fulfilled and socially well-integrated adults, whatever route they may choose.

Says Payare: “It has been a dream which is finally taking shape. Without El Sistema, I would neither be the person I am today, nor the artist I have become. This program opened doors for me and enabled me to build a career I could never have imagined. Music should never be a luxury reserved for a privileged few, but a fundamental right, accessible to all, since it has the power to transform lives.”

Under Payare’s leadership, a new chapter begins for transmitting the thrill of music in a spirit of celebration and sharing. This project reflects the OSM’s renewed commitment to collective development, through which every young person can discover the power of music as a means of expression, exchange, and growth, while contributing to a living and inclusive cultural legacy.

This announcement also carries special significance, as the year 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of El Sistema in Venezuela. Since its establishment in 1975, over a million young people worldwide have benefitted from El Sistema, which thereby acts as a powerful driver of social development.

Read more about the program here.

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