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A Living Network Meets in Milan

Nikoletta Polydorou, Executive Director, Sistema Cyprus; Board Member, Sistema Europe

10-07-2026

“It gave me great peace of mind to know that there are such capable and inspiring people whom I can turn to when I face problems that I cannot solve on my own.”

This was how one of my peers reflected on our three days together in Milan last August. Her words got to the heart of a question I had been thinking about for some time: 

What keeps a network alive?

Solving the Instrument Crisis in Global Music Education Programs

Graciela Briceno, Program Manager, In Concert Opus Network

10-07-2026

The image is jarring: a vibrant green lawn scattered with brass instruments in various forms of disrepair, some rusted, others broken or bent. A few rest in old cases with broken hinges. This video was shared by Kyewalyanga Fredrick (Freddie), founder of Saved by Music Foundation, a nonprofit in Uganda that serves 111 children between the ages of 8 and 16. Alongside shelter, food, healthcare, and school fees, the program teaches music through the Elgon Youth Brass Band that rehearses every day. Unfortunately, like a majority of programs in the region, Saved by Music Foundation does not have enough playable instruments for all of its students.

In Gaza, Children Sing with Drones

Ahmed Abu Amsha, Founder, Gaza Birds Singing; musician, singer, composer, sound engineer, music teacher, and manager of music education programs in Gaza, as told to Ensemble editor Tricia Tunstall

10-07-2026

In the beginning of the war on Gaza, I was displaced from my town of Beit Hanoun at 3 a.m. We were running, without shoes, without anything. We arrived in Jabalia, near Gaza City. I was not thinking about music; I was just running for a safe place.

Jeunesses Musicales International: The Story Behind the Movement

Matt Clark, Programs and Marketing Director, JM International

10-07-2026

Almost a hundred years ago, as construction began on the majestic Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium, Director Marcel Cuvelier walked through the construction site with a dream. “I always thought of giving concerts for young people,” he later wrote. “When I walked like an insect in that huge frame that would become a concert hall, meeting rooms, offices, halls…I thought about an audience that is demanding, worthy of respect, living: young. I could already hear the shouts and the applause.” 

GUEST PERSPECTIVE
Why Willing Volunteers Still Don’t Show Up: How youth music programs can turn goodwill into support

Kathleen Staten, Founder, Your MBA Friend Consulting

09-02-2026

Last month, my daughter’s choir director needed parents to take tickets to the year-end concert. I had been a choir singer and director myself, so I know the invisible work it takes to put students on a stage. When the request came, I wanted to be the kind of parent who showed up.

Then, my week got overwhelming. By the time the concert arrived, I was no longer deciding between helping and not helping. I was deciding which responsibility would boil over first if I took my attention off it.

Every Lullaby Begins with a New Encounter

Fenia Biniari, Communications Manager, El Sistema Greece and Project Manager, ESG Lullaby Project, and Michalis Kalkanis and Christos Kalkanis, Seeds (composer duo)

09-02-2026

The first chapter of a Lullaby Project song is usually written in a room where strangers have just met. Professional composers sit beside a mother who has never written music before. A child wanders around the room, curious but unsure. Participants may speak through an interpreter. Others may communicate more through gestures than words. At first, there are introductions, hesitant smiles, and long pauses. There is no score, no lyrics, no expectation of what the music should become. 

Concerts for Babies Transform Stages Into Communities

Paulo Lameiro, Founder and Artistic Director, Concerts for Babies

09-02-2026

In my small Portuguese village of Pousos, between the giant waves of Nazaré and the Shrine of Fátima, we had a community band. I joined at age 8, playing flugelhorn. I’m forever grateful for this decision, which launched a life in music. But it wasn’t until years later, when I served as the director of several conservatories, that I began asking why it took so long to get started.

In Uganda, Music Unearths the Questions That Heal Us

Bernard Molho Bwambale, Founder and Executive Director, Usanii Village Africa

09-02-2026

HEAL grew out of Usanii Village Africa‘s previous work with young people, including more than 50 girls and boys whose experiences helped shape the program. Since 2021, Usanii Village Africa has worked to empower young people across Uganda through the arts. In designing HEAL, we wanted to explore how the arts could engage young people in uncomfortable conversations, helping them develop leadership and communication skills while exploring adolescent health and gender equality.

U.S. Programs Are Approaching ‘The Middle’ of Their Movement. Now What?

Christopher Schroeder, Executive Director, Boston Music Project

07-08-2026

There are seasons in any movement. The beginning, that electric moment when a new idea catches fire, is unforgettable. So is the end, when a movement gains a permanent foothold in society. But the middle—the developing stage—is different. The middle is where the path is no longer clear, where the just cause and the strategies for seeing it through are both tested. It’s my impression that, in many places of the world, El Sistema-inspired programs find themselves in that adolescent stage.

These growing years are critical to our future as a movement—just as the adolescent years are critical to our students’ growth. Here are a few discoveries being made by U.S. programs I’m familiar with, shared with the hope that they resonate with programs around the world.

Building a Culture of Artivism Across Europe

Sevi Matsakidou, Educational, Research, and Advocacy Manager, El Sistema Greece

07-08-2026

Like many organizations across Europe, El Sistema Greece draws part of its support from European Union programs. While our work has always focused on music and social change, we’ve recently partnered with organizations beyond the music sector to explore something broader: “artivism” across different art forms. This collaboration led to the launch of a new project, co-funded with the EU and dedicated to empowering young people, especially those with fewer opportunities.

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