Impoverished communities have traditionally not been the site of either psychoanalysis or classical music. As psychoanalysts look increasingly beyond the consulting room for ways to have an impact on the individual or on society at large, they might profitably engage with and help conceptualize programs like Austin Soundwaves, a United States offshoot of the Venezuelan program, El Sistema. El Sistema promotes human opportunity and development through free classical music education, serving 400,000 children and youth from the barrios of Venezuela. Freud on social justice and Bion on work groups can contribute to this project. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.