Last month, as part of OPUS’s participation in the Carnegie Hall PlayUSA program, OPUS’s String Program Director Abimael Melendez was invited to join a cohort of western community music program leads on a site visit to the Tocando Music Project, a bilingual after school music program in El Paso, Texas. Abi was thrilled to see a highly successful program in the U.S. inspired by El Sistema, the music-for-social change program that originated in his home country of Venezuela. Here he is with Karen Cueva, assistant director of learning and engagement programs at Carnegie Hall.