About Viva!Sistema

In October 22, 2012, the Québec Music Educators Association/Association des éducateurs de musique du Québec (QMEA/Aemq) launched the first El Sistema – inspired music program (Viva! Sistema), in two distinct school communities (Kahnawake Mohawk Territory & St Gabriel School in Point St Charles).
 
El Sistema movement, was started in 1975 in Venezuela and uses musical group instruction as a mean to affect social change in children and youth.
Now in its second year, Viva!Sistema has provided more than 1,000 hours (more than 40 hours/week) of after-school music education free of charge to elementary school students. The design of the program directly meets numerous social and educational objectives by providing young people with an opportunity for cultural and artistic enrichment and serving as a direct solution to problems such as bullying and violence. By actively engaging youth and at-risk children in a daily, after-school, community-focused activity, Viva!Sistema builds an inclusive network through which these students may develop resiliency, social capital, and the sense of accomplishment that stems from hard work, both as individuals and as a collective.
 
The Viva!Sistema program at Point St Charles provides group musical instruction in violin and cello to 25 students from grade 2-6 by using tutors, professional musicians and certified teachers. It is significantly underfunded and presently at risk of completing the number of hours that will lead the children to their June 2014 concert.
 
About QMEA/Aemq
The QMEA/Aemq, is a professional association that was established in 1939 in order to promote, support and develop music education programs across Quebec. It nurtures a vital music learning community and seeks to accomplish this vision by serving and connecting those interested in music education, including current and future music educators.

For more information: http://www.qmea-aemq.org/