Jose Abreu, creator of Venezuelan El Sistema youth orchestras, dies

FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan conductor and composer Jose Antonio Abreu answers questions as he and fellow laureate Peter Gabriel attend a news conference for the winners of the 2009 Polar Music Prize in Stockholm August 31, 2009. REUTERS/Bob Strong/File Photo

CARACAS (Reuters) - Jose Abreu, the award-winning founder of a programme that pulled thousands of Venezuelan children from crime and poverty through music, died on Saturday, aged 78.

Abreu founded the globally acclaimed El Sistema, or The System, in 1975 in a garage with just nine musicians. From that, the network expanded to 300 choirs and orchestras that received awards from the Royal Swedish Academy and UNESCO.