MEDIA RELEASE PR37637
Erasmus Prize 2010 - The Future of European Classical Music
AMSTERDAM, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
- Erasmus Prize 2010 Awarded to Jose Antonio Abreu
The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation (Amsterdam) has awarded the Erasmus Prize 2010 to Jose Antonio
Abreu, founder director of El Sistema (Venezuela).
The theme of the Erasmus Prize 2010 is 'The Future of European Classical Music'.
The Prize is awarded to Mr Abreu in appreciation of his efforts to involve a large group of young people in music
making, offering them inspiration and a new social context. El Sistema is the National Network of Youth and
Children's Orchestras of Venezuela. This organisation, originally called Social Action for Music, has become an
important factor in the training of professional musicians and is instrumental in reaching new audiences for classical
music worldwide.
The Prize is awarded annually to a person who, within the cultural traditions of Europe, has made an especially
important contribution to culture, society or social science in Europe. The prize money is a sum of EUR 150.000.
The award ceremony of the Prize will take place on 7 October 2010 in the Recital Hall of the Concertgebouw in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, has invited the Teresa Carreno Youth Orchestra,
which is part of El Sistema, to give a concert in the Main Hall of the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and to develop an
education project for this occasion.
SOURCE: Praemium Erasmianum Foundation
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