Most symphonic halls are rarefied spaces, sequestered from urban street life. But in Inglewood, California, passersby along La Brea Avenue, a major thoroughfare, can look through the glazed facade of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center, across its shallow lobby and right into the 4,450-
square-foot performance hall, all the way down to the orchestral stage. And that is entirely by design. “We wanted the goings-on here—the process of creating beautiful music together—to be visible to people walking by, not mysterious or shrouded,” says Gustavo Dudamel, who oversees YOLA (Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles) as music and artistic director of its parent organization, the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil). “Cultural institutions must be vital parts of the communities they serve—it’s all about transparency and connection.”
Such outreach is at the core of El Sistema, the progressive music-education program founded in Venezuela in 1975, that inspired YOLA’s creation in 2007. Aspiring to empower social transformation through music, this widely emulated program offers free intensive orchestral training and instruments, with academic support and college or career guidance, to underserved youth. An immersive commitment, with after-school sessions five days a week, plus weekend activities, “it’s often about engaging the entire family,” says Dudamel, himself an El Sistema graduate who rose to lead its main orchestra (a title he still officially holds) in his native Venezuela before joining the LA Phil, in 2009, at age 28. “YOLA was a big factor in my decision to come to Los Angeles,” says the maestro. In the program’s 14 years of serving pupils from elementary through high school, it has grown from 80 to 1,300 students, and from a single site to four, within existing educational institutions across LA. Its orchestras have performed in top venues worldwide.
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