Unveiling the Dark Side of Tonewoods: A Case Study about the Musical Instrument Demand for the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra El Sistema
2019; MayDay Group; Volume: 18; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.22176/act18.3.259
ISSN1545-4517
Autores Tópico(s)Musicians’ Health and Performance
ResumoCase StudyIn line with the neoliberal economic model that gained ground in Latin America during the 1970s, Venezuela lived through an oil boom, which allowed the State to invest heavily in new economic and investment programs that met the cultural interests of the national and governmental elites of the moment.A large portion of this historical period has been known as the "Great Venezuela" era, during Carlos Andrés Pérez's first government (1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979).Following the nationalization of the oil industry, decreed by the Executive Branch in 1975, the State started to exploit and market the national crude oil directly, no longer taxing only the foreign oil companies that had settled in the country.According to Coronil (2013), the price of an oil barrel before the nationalization went from $1.85 1 in 1970 to $10.99 in 1975, generating enormous tax revenues to Perez's administration that reached 40.370 million dollars that year (Bautista Urbaneja 2007).This meant that Venezuela generated more revenue from its oil exports than all European nations thanks to the Marshall Plan (Coronil 2013).As a result of these huge profits, it is not by accident that the country's main cultural institutions were created during the 1970s, such as the Consejo Nacional de la Cultura (CONAC), the Fundación para la Cultura y las Artes (FUNDARTE), the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, and the Galería de Arte Nacional, among others.A product of its time and heir of the said oil boom, El Sistema was created as an expression of one of Great Venezuela's most renowned cultural and educational policies, thanks to the clever political involvement of José Antonio Abreu (founder of El Sistema) in order to obtain strong financing from different actors and institutions.This remained unchanged from its outset to Hugo Chávez's administration (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013).The Great Venezuela was the era in which the nationalization of oil companies coincided with the global energy crisis, as well as the increased importance of OPEC member countries as price setters on the international hydrocarbons market during the 1970s.President Carlos Andrés Pérez explained this situation as a promise of progress, as the alleged most efficient antidote in order to achieve an immediate modernization, and "as Venezuela's historic opportunity to overcome underdevelopment, conquer its second independence, and build Great Venezuela" (Coronil 2013, 301).Within this context, José Antonio Abreu has been remarkable as a widely politically experienced actor who had the skills to obtain substantial financing from
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