El Sistema Colorado serves youth ages 3-18 by offering free string instruments and free music lessons in the setting of an orchestra. All students are welcome to apply but we prioritize enrollment for low-income families.

We operate our no-cost programs from our dedicated music center in Denver’s Curtis Park neighborhood. Our after school program takes place on Monday - Friday from 4:30-6:30. Most of our students receive 2-3 hours of music instruction per week and many also receive free private lessons.

While the program is free, our students and families have a high level of commitment to be a part of the program. We exist to provide access to high quality music education no matter what.

We are committed to the whole child, cultivating a community of support for the whole family and greater community, which is impacted by our young musicians’ growing self-confidence, social-emotional development and leadership skills.

We are music without barriers!

ESC was founded in January 2012 with the first after school program in Denver Public Schools serving students at Garden Place Academy, adding Swansea Elementary and Bruce Randolph Middle & High School in the fall of 2013.

Drawing on the inspiration and approach from the original El Sistema established in Venezuela over 40 years ago, the founders of El Sistema Colorado envisioned children of marginalized communities having the same access to music as their more privileged peers.

Since our founding, ESC has served over 1,500 youth throughout Denver. We seek funding to expand our music programs to effectively serve our students with the highest quality music education possible.

In October 2019, we opened the doors to our very own music center and moved programming to our new location in the heart of Curtis Park. We currently serve over 100 students from all across Denver every week.

El Sistema was founded in Venezuela in 1975 by economist and musician José Antonio Abreu and is now known as Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar. The system was designed to improve the life trajectory of young people living in poverty and as a paradigm for social change.

The intensive approach engages youth in group lessons, rehearsals and performance, while emphasizing peer learning and community engagement. The goals of El Sistema center on developing critical life skills and laying the groundwork for success.

An important product of El Sistema is the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, fed by young musicians from the program. The orchestra made its debut and succeeded brilliantly at an international competition in 1977 in Aberdeen, Scotland and has since toured extensively in Europe and America.

The El Sistema model has become a worldwide phenomenon as more music and education leaders have visited Venezuela and been inspired to adapt the program to their communities. Others have learned about El Sistema through the news media—including the news program 60 Minutes, which profiled the organization—as well as through the popularity of Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel and other El Sistema graduates.

El Sistema has spurred conversations about how to reach low-income children using this daily, orchestra-based model of music education. The movement has expanded rapidly in the United States, including the formation of numerous El Sistema-inspired programs.

To learn more, you can watch the TED Talk for Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu here.