The National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts 2008

The Jury meeting for the 2008 Prince of Asturias Awards for the Arts, consisting of Juan Cruz, Fernando Delgado, Lourdes Fernández, Jorge Fernández Bustillo, José Fernández-Velasco, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart Martínez de Irujo, Duke of Huéscar, José Luis Garci, Guillermo García-Alcalde, Jordi García Candau, Rosina Gómez-Baeza, Juan Carlos Laviana, Fernando Argenta, Kely Méndez Riestra, Miguel Muñiz, Marisa Paredes, Beatriz Pecker, Benigno Pendás García, Juan Ramón Pérez Las Clotas, Encarnación Rodríguez Cañas, Patricia Urquiola, Amelia Valcárcel, Maximiano Valdés, presided over by José Lladó Fernández-Urrutia and with José Antonio Caicoya acting as secretary, has agreed to bestow this Award to the Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela, founded by maestro D. José Antonio Abreu, for having combined, within a single project, the highest artistic quality and a profound ethical conviction applied for the improvement of our social reality. The system developed by maestro Abreu has worked in collaboration with prominent figures of worldwide acclaim to train conductors and performers of the highest level, in accordance with a strong conviction that music has an essential educational value for the dignity of mankind.

Oviedo, 21st May 2008