Student Voice & Leadership

 
The Ensemble seeks to connect and inform all people who are committed to ensemble music education for youth empowerment and social change.

ESUSA Musicians Celebrate Ninth Annual El Sistema Residency

05-01-2024

The King School and Project Music just wrapped their Ninth Annual El Sistema Residency, hosting a cluster of east coast–based El Sistema USA programs for a weekend of musical exchange and performance.

Expanding Musical Opportunities for Children

05-01-2024

It’s been a decade since we launched the first El Sistema–inspired program in Japan, in the city of Soma, Fukushima Province. Our goal was to offer support, community, and dignity to the children affected by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident. Our vision statement at that time was: “Community regenerated by children with life skills through music.”

Since then, we’ve learned a great deal about the needs of the children we serve and the primary outcomes we want to be aiming at. Accordingly, we’ve reshaped the vision statement as follows: “Collaborative society where everyone can be free and creative.”

Youth-Led Research Explores Healthy Music Experiences

04-03-2024

A new research project in Scotland is taking its cue from young people.

Want to Amplify Youth Voices? Give Them a Podcast Mic

04-03-2024

In mainstream media, youth voices are widely absent, overlooked, or sensationalized. Youth on Record (YOR) aims to address this gap through our creative youth programming, including its Podcasting Production Internship. The program seeks to foster a supportive environment where young people explore creative storytelling and produce podcasts that amplify their voices and ideas.

El Sistema Toronto Youth Sing Their Truth

06-21-2023

El Sistema Toronto students teamed up with award-winning Indigenous hip hop artist Cody Coyote and Juno-nominated Toronto rapper Saukrates to write and record “WAY: We Are Young,” a song that captures both the hopefulness and vulnerability of young people who are coming of age in a rapidly changing world.

AIM’s Music Capsules Offer Snapshots of How We Learn

06-07-2023

If you’re a teaching artist, or have ever been one, you’ve probably wondered: Should I always take the lead in the learning process? Are there ways students can take the lead sometimes? What’s the best way for my students to learn?

Such questions are often the focus of “The Firebird Fellowship,” the program at the heart of the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM), a global innovation lab for changemakers tackling educational inequality through music education.

NAfME Report: Divisive Concepts Laws and Music Education

05-17-2023

Regressive lawmaking in the U.S. has led some music educators to feel unsafe talking about race, gender, or history in the classroom. In response, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) a published a must-read report earlier this year on Divisive Concepts Laws (DCL)legislative and executive orders that restrict teaching and learning activities related to race, gender, sexuality, and U.S. historyand their impact on music educators across the U.S.

Applications Open for the Global Student Prize

03-15-2023

Attention community leaders, music educators, and band and choir directors: here is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the young people who go above and beyond in your programs.

Authentic Assessments: Prioritizing the Whole Student

02-01-2023

Authentic assessments are projects that engage students in their own learning journeys and can be implemented by all ages and classes in the program throughout the academic school year. At the Harmony Project Phoenix, these authentic assessments focus particularly on Autonomy, Creativity, and Empathy. For example, in the Empathy assessment, students lead the project, with teachers serving as facilitators.

SEYO 2022’s Young Change Makers

09-07-2022

Through a lot of note-taking, conversation, and, eventually, a vote, we settled on two questions that would guide our week of collaborative inquiry: “How can we improve the transmission of emotional message through music?” and “How can we provide musical opportunities for students who may not otherwise have them?”

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