The In Harmony music education programme in England has incorporated the name of its Venezuelan inspiration after getting the seal of approval from El Sistema founder José Antonio Abreu.

Abreu met Julian Lloyd Webber, the chair of In Harmony, when the cellist was in Caracas last month to give the Venezuelan premiere of Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Simón Bolívar Orchestra. Abreu expressed his hope that adopting the Sistema name will help the English scheme continue and expand.

The In Harmony projects in Liverpool, Norwich and Lambeth will now come under the name In Harmony Sistema England, and are set to collaborate closely with the Venezuelan organisation. El Sistema's other official partner in the UK is Sistema Scotland, which runs the Big Noise orchestral programme in Stirling, and aims to launch three children's orchestra centres in 2013.

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