To mark 50 years since the foundation of El Sistema, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela sets off this weekend on a 10-concert tour of Europe in collaboration with Askonas Holt. Under the direction of Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, the orchestra is joined by a host of soloists, including Yuja Wang, soprano Marianne Crebassa and cuatro player Jorge Glem.

Along the way, they also team up with a number of local choirs and ensembles including Démos, the French counterpart to El Sistema, the women’s and children’s choirs of the Orchestre de Paris, Tiffin Children’s Choirs, Pueri Cantores du Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid Pequeños Cantores de la ORCAM. Residencies in Paris and London also provide opportunities for open rehearsals, side-by-side activities and chamber workshops.

The two sold-out concerts in Paris are a multi-faceted celebration; they coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the Philharmonie – the opening for which the SBSOV performed in 2015. The performances also coincide with 30th anniversary of the opening of the Cité de la musique. The second concert sees the orchestra join forces with Yuja Wang for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1.

From Paris the orchestra head to London for two concerts at the Barbican, as well as educational activities with a local school. They then give performances in Luxembourg, Berlin, Munich and Brussels before finishing in Madrid with a concert at the Auditorio Nacional de Música. Audiences will be treated to a varied repertoire that includes music from their homeland alongside Mahler’s Symphony No.3, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4 and Ravel’s Boléro.

The concert at the Philharmonie Paris on 11 January will be broadcast live at 8pm local time and available on demand until 11 July on Philharmonie Live. Concerts at the Barbican on 15 and 17 January will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 7:30pm local time and available on BBC Sounds for 30 days.