YOLA makes music with Bolívar friends

This happy and harmonious woodwind section is learning to play the YOLA way.

United by a common musical ancestor, Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra is teaming up with Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) for a free community concert in downtown L.A.

Both groups have their roots in El Sistema—a movement that provides musical instruction to about 250,000 low-income Venezuelan youth each year.

The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1975, is the movement’s most advanced ensemble. No longer a youth orchestra (its members have outgrown the label), the group now tours worldwide to critical acclaim. It is currently in L.A.to perform in The Mahler Project.

YOLA was founded in 2007 after a Los Angeles Philharmonic delegation returned from Venezuela after observing El Sistema in action. In just a few years, the program has grown from an initial group of 80 to more than 500 area youths, thanks in part to the efforts of yet another product of El Sistema—Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. (Check out Supervisor Yaroslavsky’s blog entry “Maestro on a Mission” for more on YOLA and how it benefits the local community.)

On Monday, the two orchestras will join forces for a program that includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, several works by Mahler and even a couple of South American tangos. There’s no charge to attend, but reservations are required.

The concert will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 30 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The cathedral is located at 555 West Temple Street. The flat rate for parking is $5, or take the Metro Red Line to the Civic Center stop. The cathedral is located just a short walk north on Temple Street.

Posted 1/25/12