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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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Conserving the Past, Composing the Future at Kakuma Sound

Treynor Tumwa and Mark LeVine, Cofounders, Kakuma Sound

11-02-2022

Africa’s Great Lakes Region has long been a crossroads for migrations of people, from the Indian Ocean in the east to the tropical forests to the west to the headwaters of the Nile up north. It’s precisely these factors that made Kakuma an ideal location for a refugee camp to shelter peoples from the numerous conflicts along these routes. Almost nowhere else on the planet do musicians from so many different African cultures and countries live in such proximity.

At Brass for Africa, the Debut Is the First Lesson

Ronald Kabuye, Project Manager, Brass for Africa

08-03-2022

Our recruitment methods are organic and, of course, optional; teachers put on unofficial concerts that help participants feel comfortable and self-assured in performance settings. As young people share in the vibrancy and joy of making music, they begin to see themselves as musicians.

A Far-Flung Teaching Partnership to Keep a Namibian Music School Alive

Enrico Palascino, violinist, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB), Germany

06-01-2022

Recently, we have created an initiative whereby dedicated musicians from Germany fly to Namibia at regular intervals for the next five to six years to pass on their pedagogical knowledge to the YONA music teacher team. The initiative is already up and running; we recruited the German teachers by selecting them from different European music education programs.

Instilling—and then Measuring—Confidence in Young Band Members

Amanda Holt, Strategic Information Specialist, Field Band Foundation

04-06-2022

Six thousand children participate in field bands across South Africa. These bands operate in rural and peri-urban communities that have little in the way of cultural, educational, or public health infrastructure. After-school activities are few. And yet, within these communities’ growing bands, people are growing, too.

Ghetto Classics Dance, in Nairobi, Kenya

Joanna Priwieziencew, who has danced with companies in the U.S., Europe, and Egypt, and now divides her time between the U.S. and Kenya, where she heads the dance program of Ghetto Classics

02-02-2022

On the crowded roads of Korogocho, with its 300,000 inhabitants on 1.5 sq. km, its tin homes with no running water and open sewage, and its backdrop of Dandora (an immense, ever-growing, and constantly burning mountain of garbage), one can scarcely imagine encountering a center filled with live arts. But that is the home of Ghetto Classics, where every corner, every room vibrates with music—from Chopin to Tanzanian composer Adam Salim.

Grants Aid Marginalized Populations in the U.S., East Africa, and Central America

08-18-2021

Jewish Helping Hands’ Tikkun Olam Grant Program helps vulnerable populations across the world by supporting projects focused on economic development and social empowerment, with a particular emphasis on those demographics that have been overlooked or marginalized. Projects in the United States, East Africa, and Central America, as well as regions worldwide with impoverished Jewish populations, are given priority. Grants range up to $10,000 for projects in the U.S. and up to $5,000 for projects in other countries. Initial inquiry forms must be submitted by September 14, 2021; invited full applications will be due December 14, 2021. Visit the Jewish Helping Hands website to learn more.

Empathetic Music Programming
Or: How I Learned to Stop Teaching Like an Englishman

Philip Monk, Founder, Mbale Schools Band

08-04-2021

I’m often asked about the Mbale Schools Band. It’s easy to see why: we are a celebrated and widely visible British-style brass band founded in Uganda, a country with no tradition of or overwhelming interest in such an ensemble. But while ours is a success story, it is also one of listening and deep empathy—a parable for the virtue of placing yourself in your students’ shoes. Without their wisdom, it’s likely that we would not have made it past year three.

Women in African Music

07-21-2021

The organization Sounds of Africa organized a virtual museum celebrating “Women in African Music,” using the photography of British-Nigerian artist Michael Tubes. The exhibition shared photos of African women musicians, taken over the past ten years, in order to “highlight, celebrate and empower the challenges faced by women within the industry.”

Celebrating the Potential of Our Vulnerable Communities at M-LISADA

Bosco Segawa, Founder, M-LISADA Organization

07-07-2021

Music attracts and connects otherwise unreachable hearts. And for children from the streets, it has the ability to soothe souls, provide comfort, and offer hope for the future. At M-LISADA Organization (Music Life Skills And Destitution Alleviation), a Ugandan registered NGO in the heart of the Katwe slums on the outskirts of Kampala, we serve those children with music education that celebrates their possibilities.

AfroCharts Connects Listeners with New Music from African Artists

06-16-2021

A new streaming platform aims to give aspiring African artists a chance to earn money without the big record deal. Founder Leonard Novati saw a correspondence between less globalized African regions and the absence of new artistic voices from those regions, prompting him to create AfroCharts. Now, artists all over Africa can upload their songs and make money directly while engaging with their fan base. It’s an innovative approach to the oversaturated streaming market, one that uniquely amplifies the listener-and-artist relationship. Read more about the founder and start-up story via Techpoint.

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