"Many congratulations to all concerned. What a richly deserved award. Dr Abreu has dedicated his life to transforming the lives of generations of young Venezuelans through music and El Sistema. Thanks to his influence, more and more young people worldwide are able to benefit from the power of music to reach out and make a real difference. It is humbling and a great pleasure and privilege to work with these young players. It's no exaggeration to say that Dr Abreu, through El Sistema, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and of course Gustavo Dudamel has been able to touch the lives of people worldwide - and one of the orchestra's former members now plays for me full-time in Berlin!"


Sir Simon Rattle