Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles Serves Music Hopefuls in South Central

The alt-weekly L.A. Weekly published a moving story on young cellist Jacob Esquivel and his transformative with the social change organization Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. The alt-weekly L.A. Weekly published a moving story on young cellist Jacob Esquivel and his transformative with the social change organization Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. The group, called “YOLA” for short, was started after LA Philharmonic organizers witnessed the influence that Venezuela’s “El Sistema” music program was having on its youth. The LA Phil started their own program and soon hired one of El Sistema’s original prodigies – Gustavo Dudamel – was in L.A. as the Phil’s musical director. The YOLA now offers free music education to kids at three centers in underserved areas of L.A. Esquivel, who is a 14-year-old first chair cellist, recently returned from a trip with the Phil to perform in London.

Full article at the L.A. Weekly here.