“Venezuela is not especially a deeply Catholic country, and El Sistema’s top rank of musicians do not display piety. But through the influence of Mr. Abreu, who professes deep religious devotion, the trappings of a church have emerged, even if the similarities are only a question of atmospherics. It is possible to extrapolate that a good part of El Sistema’s success is due to these trappings, or at least to the single-minded focus on spreading the gospel of social action through music.”