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The Ensemble seeks to connect and inform all people who are committed to ensemble music education for youth empowerment and social change.
 
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No Matter the Medium, Ensemble Learning Makes Leaders of Us All

Saurabh Sainani, Program Lead, Enabling Leadership

04-02-2025

For many organizations outside of our shared community, leadership is viewed as a title or formal role—something to aspire to professionally. When it comes to youth empowerment, though, it means a bit more. We see it in the everyday actions, habits, and mindsets that empower individuals to make a difference. Leadership, for us, is about inspiring others simply by living your values.

At Enabling Leadership (EL), we strive to support young people as they find their way toward those actions and values.

Collaboration Across Cultures—and Genres—in São Tomé and Príncipe and Guinea-Bissau

Eduardo Lála, Conductor and Technical-Pedagogical Coordinator, The Rizoma Project

02-05-2025

When the Rizoma Project launched in 2022 in São Tomé and Príncipe and Guinea-Bissau, I knew we were embarking on an ambitious journey. Our goal was clear: to establish social orchestras in communities with limited resources and significant social challenges. 

Two weeks, 13 concerts, 22 musicians: The Ghetto Classics All-Stars Tour Kenya

Joanna Priwieziencew, Head of Ghetto Classics Dance, Nairobi, Kenya

02-05-2025

Nairobi, Kenya, November 2024.

A small room bordering East Africa’s largest dumpsite. Heat scorches through tin roofs as dust rises from the cement floor. Inside, 20 Kenyan musicians focus on Belgian saxophonist Toine Thys: they take in his every gesture and expression, eager not to miss a note. In the drum section, Canadian drummer and pedagogue Karl Jannuska passes his drumsticks to a Kenyan musician and picks up the shakers. Together, they are about to carve the thick air with an Afro jazz beat.

They’re also about to embark on their first national tour.

In Malawi, the Tumaini Festival Is More Journey Than Destination

Kensomah Magombo, Communications Officer, Tumaini Letu, in collaboration with The Ensemble editors

12-11-2024

Our flagship program is the annual Tumaini Festival, a free three-day global celebration held in the Camp, showcasing arts and cultural performances by refugee, Malawian, and international artists. As the star project of Tumaini Letu, this festival is the first and only one of its kind within a refugee camp. It highlights diverse art forms including music, theatre, poetry, and dance, spread across five performance areas. The Festival also features a display space for visual artists, a special evening dedicated to film screenings, and a children’s playground. Through everything from music and dance to spoken word and art, the Festival breaks stereotypes and builds solidarity among all attendees.

Global Collaboration Reimagines Classic Song with an Important Message

12-11-2024

What’s better than true international collaboration? Over 100 musicians, educators, and students from five countries—Ghana, Rwanda, Panama, Morocco, and the United States—have reimagined the Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” with a new music video produced by non-profit Young Musicians Unite and the Playing for Change Foundation.

Combining Music with Community Living: Keys of Change in Ghana

Katarzyna Deja, violinist, music educator, and music for social change ambassador

11-06-2024

There are many ensembles made up of family members. But have you ever encountered an entire orchestra where every musician feels like a sibling? The Accra Youth Sinfonietta, a youth music program in a small town near Accra, Ghana, is one such orchestra. What makes this ensemble especially familial is that the children not only make music together—they also live together at a children’s home called Kinder Paradise. Many of the children in residence have suffered abuse or neglect and have spent time in unhoused circumstances.

Global Partnership Leads to Cosmic Collaboration

10-02-2024

Applications Open for the Next Emerging Leaders Artivism Alliance

10-02-2024

NEOJIBA Conecta Celebrates Closing Concert

09-04-2024

The NEOJIBA Conecta project celebrated their closing concert at the end of July, with a program reflecting the cultures and traditions of participating musicians from the Global South.

World Orchestra Week at Carnegie Hall

James Ross, Orchestra Director, NYO-USA and NYO2-USA; Music Director, Alexandria Symphony, VA, USA; Director of Orchestral Studies, Curtis Institute of Music

09-04-2024

Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week festival in August was a week of one “WOW!” after another, as seven youth orchestras from five different continents joined forces in and around Carnegie Hall to play for and with each other, to share singular musical works and ethos from their countries, and to show us all what the next generation’s Wishes for Our World might be.

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