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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent

Top Venezuelan pianist urges music world to snub youth orchestra linked to Maduro

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Simon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in August 2023.
Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Simon Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in August 2023. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

One of Venezuela’s most celebrated musicians, the pianist Gabriela Montero, has called on concert halls and music promoters to cut ties with her country’s world-renowned youth orchestra as a result of Nicolás Maduro’s alleged theft of last year’s presidential election.

The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV), which has close ties to Maduro’s administration, is scheduled to perform at some of Europe’s most prestigious classical music venues in January to mark the 50th anniversary of Venezuela’s world-famous music training programme, El Sistema.

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