BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — It has been praised the world over as a model for uplifting disadvantaged youth by connecting them with classical music. But a new book about Venezuela's network of youth orchestras known as El Sistema, or The System, portrays it as a "model of tyranny" where brutal, marathon practice sessions mirror the apparently unlimited power and top-down style of its magnetic founder, Jose Antonio Abreu. "El Sistema: Orchestrating Venezuela's Youth" is the first in-depth study to question the institution whose motto of social action through music has brought together Venezuela's aging, conservative devotees of classical music and its socialist government, which has bankrolled El Sistema's expansion over the past 15 years. United Kingdom-based musicologist and arts educator Geoffrey Baker said he embarked on his research after attending a heart-stirring 2007 concert at the Proms of London by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra under the direction of El Sistema's best-known alum: Gustavo Dudamel, the 33-year-old wunderkind musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The author of several books on Latin American music, Baker said his goal was to provide a rigorous study of the intellectual and organizational underpinnings of the musical marvel.Read more on NewsOK.com