Jesus Sira

Vice President of Learning-Board Director

Sunstate Orchestral Program

El Sistema Tampa

​

A Venezuelan violinist, orchestral director, and educational manager with more than thirty years of experience in the fields of music, art, and teaching. He studied violin with Maestros Sergio Celis and José Francisco del Castillo (Galamian School) and orchestral conducting with Maestros Leonardo Panigada (Venezuela) and Mario Benzecry (Argentina). He holds Bachelor’s in Music Education and Master Degree in Educational Management at the Universidad Experimental Libertador, Venezuela.

 

As a violinist in the Venezuelan Orchestral System (El Sistema), he engaged in extensive artistic activities as orchestra musician, allowing him to collaborate with renowned international musicians such as Helmuth Rilling, Mario Benzecry, Piero Gamba, Carl St. Clair, Jordi Mora, Mehli Mehta, Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle, among others. In Vienna (2006) he performed with John Adams in his Opera Premier “A Flowering Tree”, which was commissioned by The New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, Austria, as part of the 250th anniversary celebrations of Mozart's birth.

 

An enthusiastic and proactive violin teacher, he has carried out intense work in South America, Europe, Canada and United States of America. His contributions go beyond training numerous generations of musicians; he has also played a key role in the development of academic projects inspired by “El Sistema” pedagogical profiles, and national and international festivals. As former Director of the Latin American Violin Academy, Barquisimeto (El Sistema), he collaborated on the development of music education projects, programs, and management strategies aimed at sustaining the impact and social recovery of these initiatives. Many of his students have become outstanding instrumentalists, orchestral conductors, transformative leaders, and managers in Europe and America, including José Jesús Olivetti, a promising young orchestral conductor in Germany, and Gian Carlo Monacelli, Principal at Lakeland Highlands Middle School, FL, among others.

 

He served as a full professor at Lisandro Alvarado University in Barquisimeto, teaching Orchestral Conducting, Chamber Music, and Orchestral Practice. He was responsible for creating curriculum designs and programs for these careers. He also served as a string’s trainer for the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra for over fifteen years, overseeing many of their international tours with maestros Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, and Gustavo Dudamel. In 2015, he participated in the orchestra’s tour to Milan, Italy, as a string trainer.

 

Since 2019, he has been the Music Director, Manager, Violin Faculty, and Director of Music for Refugee project of Sunstate Orchestral Program (www.musicapararefugiarte.org), a program inspired by El Sistema. This program focuses "Music for Refugees" is a project created by the SUNSTATE ORCHESTRAL PROGRAM “El Sistema Tampa” for children and young people in refugee situations in the United States. This community consists of individuals living below the poverty line and those with limited English proficiency.

 

The primary goal of this project is to secure public and private funding to provide scholarships, financial support, technical and logistical assistance, as well as social and psychological opportunities.

 

These efforts aim to support the community through orchestral practice, rehearsals, and performances, while creating new spaces to ensure access, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts (Music for All).

 

Recently, Mr. Sira was appointed Vice President of Learning and Board Director of the Sunstate Orchestral Program "El Sistema Tampa, where he is working to develop a comprehensive learning project, strategic plan, budgeting framework, and strategies to motivate string teachers, faculty, and intern college students to embrace the philosophy of El Sistema (Social Change through Music) beyond Florida.