El Sistema is a music-based youth education program aimed at social reform which was founded in Venezuela by Dr. José Antonio Abreu. Under the launch pad of a system enabling any child regardless of his or her family’s financial circumstances to receive group music education for free, the aim is to foster hope and pride in children by cultivating an attitude in them of proactively working towards a goal while they learn about cooperation and discipline themselves. Not only has the program produced many first-class musicians like the world-renowned young conductor Gustavo Dudamel, but it has also been praised by external organizations such as UNESCO and The Inter-American Development Bank for protecting children from crime and violence and having a positive impact academically and otherwise. As of January 2016, the program had been rolled out in over sixty countries and regions. Sharing the philosophy of El Sistema, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre has since 2008 regularly held a festival to introduce the program’s activities.

Established in 1995 as part of El Sistema Chorus, White Hands Chorus is a music-based program open to any child with or without disabilities. With an emphasis on the participation of children who are hearing impaired, autistic or who have speech difficulties, children able to vocalize make up the singing section of the chorus while children who have difficulty vocalizing perform “signed” choreography with white-gloved hands. The ensemble is widely referred to as the White Hands Chorus for its vivid expression of the world of song using white gloves.

Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre held a symposium on El Sistema at its 2013 El Sistema Festival, and in 2015 ran a related workshop for the general public. From 2017 the Theatre started the Tokyo White Hands Chorus jointly with El Sistema Japan. In 2018 it also began welcoming visually-impaired children, and has continued to pursue the wonder of creating beautiful music together beyond the concept of disability, and the joy of sharing it together. Since 2020 the Theatre has worked with two organizations, El Sistema Japan and El Sistema Connect.

Elementary – high school students (mainly elementary and junior high school students)

Workshops are held at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on Sundays.
Many members currently take part online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

El Sistema Japan
https://www.elsistemajapan.org/
TEL: 03-6811-7077（Weekdays 9:00 – 17:00）
E-mail: whc@elsistemajapan.org

El Sistema Connect
https://elsistemaconnect.or.jp/
E-mail: info@: elsistemaconnect.or.jp