SONG Onlus strives for social change through the shared experience of collective music-making, involving over 500 youngsters, including children with special needs, in the Lombardy region of Italy.

Over the course of almost ten years since its inception SONG Onlus – Sistema Lombardia has successfully nurtured social integration, especially for disadvantaged children and their families, through free access to ensemble music-making and singing in schools and social centres. An inclusive, non-elitist approach to music builds bridges between diverse cultures and backgrounds.

El Sistema was introduced in Italy in 2009 by Maestro Claudio Abbado, who was directly acquainted with the original model by Maestro José Antonio Abreu in Venezuela, and appealed to a number of musicians as well as cultural organizers in order to implement full-fledge Sistema in Italy.