Beginning as a youth group, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela gained fame as the pinnacle of Venezuela's famed El Sistema music education program. The orchestra now has adult members who began as young players with the group. El Sistema was founded in 1975 by composer and educator José Antonio Abreu. Some sources give the founding date of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela as 1978. It was named for Venezuelan national hero Simón Bolívar. Abreu served as conductor for the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra for the first two decades of its existence; he was succeeded by the then-18-year-old Gustavo Dudamel. Dudamel has remained in that position even as he has gone on to international stardom. The orchestra began recording in the early '80s. In 2022, it released the album Huáscar Barradas: Four Elements - Immersive Symphony for Orchestra and Chorus.