Collaborations

In the second week of March 2023, El Sistema USA, an organizational network of Sistema-inspired programs in the United States, held their first in-person national symposium since the pandemic began. Attendees converged to attend workshops, rekindle friendships, and share perspectives and questions about the field. They also encountered something unprecedented: a lively cohort of Youth Ambassadors, students from programs across the country, who often took the lead in key activities.  

This month, the Ambassadors were asked to explore their daily lives in their programs. Our most recent entry explores ideas such as: 1) their daily routines outside of rehearsal; 2) what their rehearsal settings look and feel like; and 3) their relationships with their colleagues/instructors. We hope to share different slices of life from different corners of the world.

Bachtrack has released their annual statistics report on classical music performances around the world. The numbers are encouraging: while the top ten composers are still dead white men, there are notable increases in performances of living and female composers.

Free stuff! Check out these self-paced online courses available to teaching artists worldwide:

The Boulanger Initiative, with the support of Sphinx, launched its newest project this past March: the largest open-access database of works by women and gender-marginalized composers. 

A few news hits from Sistema programs around the world:

The Lewis Prize for Music is now accepting applications for the 2024 Accelerator Awards.

Research is beginning to show how much new technology can benefit students in the music classroom. David Knapp’s recent study, published in Research Studies in Music Education, offers a few good reasons why music educators should be outfitting their classrooms with digital audio workstations (DAWs).

The Brussels-based organization SIMM (Social Impact of Music Making), a worldwide research-oriented network of scholars and practitioners, will hold its 8th annual symposium in Brisbane, Australia, November 20–22, 2023, and is now seeking proposals for research papers in the field.

By now, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence program that can “write” an essay or a song by synthesizing information from the Internet. Despite valid reservations about its role in art, some educators and musicians are considering whether they might want to team up with this technology rather than fight it.