The program Sinfonía por la Vida -Symphony for Life- allows hundreds of children and teenagers from marginalized zones in Ecuador to improve their opportunities in life through music. 

Musical education is important for reinforcing children’s cognitive skills and educational achievement by stimulating self-esteem and giving an incentive to study. Through the study of music, young people develop a diverse set of skills useful in music and in a wide variety of career and life contexts. They learn how to work effectively in groups as they develop communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Students who learn music develop a sense of personal responsibility, while cultivating discipline, creativity and solidarity.  Music study stimulates habits for life that motivate students to academic, professional, and civic success.

The program Symphony for Life is coordinated by the Symphonic Youth Orchestra Foundation of Ecuador –Fundación Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil del Ecuador (FOSJE)-, which was created in 1994. FOSJE is the parent organization of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ecuador, the professional orchestra of the system. The program was designed with the technical cooperation of the Interamerican Development Bank –Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)-.  

Symphony for Life in Ecuador receives academic support from Maestro José Antonio Abreu, the internationally-acclaimed founder and director of El Sistema, Venezuela's 33-year-old program of social action through music.

Currently, Symphony for Life works with 480 students in the cities of Quito, Guayaquil and Esmeraldas. These children and teenagers, between 6 and 18 years of age, take academic classes in the mornings and attend music schools in the afternoons where they participate in youth and children’s orchestras. One additional component of this system of youth orchestras and bands is the Center for Musical Expression (CEM) of the Huancavilca Foundation which has 90 students in Guasmo-Guayaquil.

Symphony for Life has teamed up with the Julliard School to increase the impact of its work.  Click on the following link to read about this collaboration and the experience of George Stelluto, Julliard's resident conductor, during his visit to Ecuador to learn more about Symphony for Life.  Click here