"Resurrection Symphony? Why Venezuela\&##39;s Sistema won\&##39;t save classical music." Venezuela\&##39;s system of publicly funded youth orchestras ("El sistema") has become a powerful symbol for partisans of European art music, adopted as a model for 21st-century music education, social outreach, and music-based transformation. Insufficient attention has been paid to Venezuela\&##39;s unique political and economic history, including the way the System plays into the redistributive politics of a "magical" petrostate, its intersection with Spanish colonialism, and its relationship with the current neoliberal moment in the West.