We all know Patricia Abdelnour from her former role as the deputy director of internal relations at El Sistema. Now in charge of FASM in Spain, Patricia spent the last weekend of April in Luxembourg, where she spoke at the 3rd TEDx LuxembourgCity.

Despite having plenty she could have said about FASM’s own achievements, Patricia’s talk focused on the global achievements of the Sistema approach, looking to inspire the audience and to convince them of the power of ensemble music to change the world.

The benefits of getting involved

Catching the audience by surprise, Patricia started off with a bold statement on the potential of music and an impromptu interactive performance of Mi Cuerpo, which saw everyone - at first hesitantly and then, gradually, with more conviction - clapping their hands, stamping their feet and singing along.

Praising their work together and the spontaneously created bonds within the group, Patricia used the audience's involvement in the song to explain the many and varied benefits of ensemble music learning, talking about how it activates the auditory, visual and motor cortexes all at once, creating benefits for maths and language learning and improving general problem-solving capacities. Continuing, Patricia pointed out that these personal benefits are also complemented by social benefits, such as the creation of stronger communities, a better, more positive sense of self and greater emotional resilience and self-discipline. 

A Sistema world tour

To back up her initial claims, Patricia then took her audience on a world tour of Sistema-inspired programmes, showing how the concept has adapted to multiple circumstances and cultural environments, be it in countering social isolation in South Korea, bridging ethnic divides in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina or tackling poverty in Latin America.

Thanks to Patricia, the audience discovered that there are thriving Sistema-inspired programmes as far afield as Japan and Greenland and that, in Austria, the local Sistema-inspired programme, Superar, caters to and promotes the integration of a massively diverse group of children, with 29 different languages and 12 different religions!

But, why Sistema?

Patricia ended her presentation on a rhetorical note, swiftly answering her own question to conclude with a flourish, as she stated with conviction that “intense ensemble music making is the unlikely but effective answer to the problems we face today” and encouraged her audience to get involved and to make a start, however small that might at first be.

To find out more about the roles which Sistema-inspired programmes carry out worldwide, watch the full-length YouTube video of Patricia’s presentation

Get involved!

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