Lourdes Sánchez

Four decades and a long career as a chorister, choir director and her solid musical training have allowed her to assume the commitment to develop and strengthen the choral movement of El Sistema, from her position as a teacher in nuclei, performer as a member of orchestras, to choir director and trainer of generations of musicians. 

In this position she has developed an intense work of coordination, dissemination of a cappella choral repertoire and leadership of symphonic-choral productions. In this context, she founded the Niños Cantores de Venezuela and assumed the direction of the Simón Bolívar National Chorus. 

She has worked for the CAF Social Action Project, the Confederation of Choirs of the Basque Country, Sinfonía por el Perú, the Institute of Culture of Yucatán, the UNAM Choral Program, Orquestando Armonías and the Veracruz Institute of Culture in Mexico, Orchestras and Choirs of the Bicentennial and the American Choral Forum in Argentina, El Sistema Greece, working with refugees and immigrant communities, among others. She frequently attends as a conductor, workshop leader and lecturer at events in Latin America and Europe, promoting the voice of El Sistema. 

As a choral conductor she has received glowing comments in national productions and international tours of the Simón Bolívar National Chorus. She conducted at the Chorfest and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt and stages in Kelkheim, Wuppertal and Köln, Germany. In the United States, at the Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center in New York, with José Limón Dance Company, Eisenhower Theater of the Kennedy Center in the U.S. capital. Other stages such as the Teatro Municipal Jorge Eliécer Gaitán and the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá, in the Salzburger Festspiele which included the Stiftung Mozarteum and the preparation of the symphonic-choral concerts with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel in the Grosses Festspielhaus. Her participation in the Chorus Festival at the Southbank Centre in London was remarkable. She conducted concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in the framework of the restoration of the great organ, as well as in theaters in Liverpool, Sage Gateshead in Newcastle and Cardiff, Wales. The artistic residency of El Sistema at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan was relevant. Seasons of a cappella, symphonic-choral music and La bohéme brought excellent reviews. Subsequently, she conducted at the Calouste Gulbenkian Theater in Lisbon, Basilique Sainte Pie X, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Chapelle Royale de Versailles and L’Auditorium de Radio France. 

In the city of Vienna she conducted at the Institute of Culture of the Spanish Language, University of Music and Arts, MuTh Hall and the Vienna Boys Choir. More recently at the Victoria Hall and at the headquarters of Unesco in Geneva with the Sinfónica Nacional Infantil de Venezuela. Peón Contreras Theater and Nezahualcóyotl Hall in Mexico, Centro de Arte León Febres Cordero, Casa de la Música in Ecuador; Auditorio Juan Victoria, Argentina and other venues in Latin America and Europe has witness her talent. 

She studied at the Juan José Landaeta Conservatory and graduated from the School of Arts of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, where she also studied Latin American Musicology. As a harpist she was part of the Cecilia de Majo Classical Harp Ensemble of El Sistema. She founded the Cantoría Ludus Vocaliter, a female vocal ensemble, and directed the Niños Cantores de Los Teques.