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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. history—and their impact on music educators across the U.S.

New Resource: The Posture Project

05-17-2023

What’s the backbone of healthy musical practice? As it turns out, our backbones; when our bodies feel at odds with our music–making, we risk injury, fatigue, and poor development.

VYC Kindred Sings Songs for Belonging

05-17-2023

As communities grow increasingly diverse in places like British Columbia, where 29% of the population identify as immigrants, programs like VYC Kindred, from the Vancouver Youth Choir, are offering music as a meeting place for the region’s past and future.

What Makes a Song ‘Happy’?

05-17-2023

Michael Bonshor’s recent article in The Conversation examines the many reasons why certain music makes us feel good. Surprise: it’s all tied to individual preferences. 

GLI Imagined Community Concert: Streetwise Street Party at Streetwise Opera

Dave Wilson (author), Hanna Wiskari, Helen Ella, Ismar Porić, and María Arias Velasco, Global Leaders ‘23 cohort members

05-03-2023

During our several months working with Streetwise Opera, we learned that the organization has already initiated projects that take performances out of the concert hall and into the streets. Our concert proposal sought to continue those projects with a logical next step: “Streetwise Street Party: A Community Celebration.” An afternoon tea-themed street party for all ages, the community concert is designed to share Streetwise’s work on a city street temporarily closed to traffic in London, one of the cities Streetwise serves.

In the Netherlands, Public and Private Sectors Partner toward Music for All

Emma Brouwer, Project Manager, Méér Muziek in de Klas

05-03-2023

In 2014, arts education in the Netherlands was in a dire state. In particular, music education had suffered from years of budget cuts in primary schools. There was an increased focus on the “case subjects,” such as language and math, as well as changes in the teacher training colleges, where only one or two modules of music education remained in the curriculum. 

El Sistema USA Youth Ambassadors: The Start of Something New

Leute Lagaaia, Sistema Utah, and Rachael Diaz, Paterson Music Project; Youth Ambassadors, 2023 El Sistema National Symposium

05-03-2023

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.  

Building Culture, Building Community at the RYSE Center

Jordan Daniel, Culture Builder Intern, The RYSE Center

05-03-2023

Growing up, I was taught to suck it up, because your pain isn’t serious until you become an adult. Feelings weren’t a thing, and neither were options. So when I joined a place that preached opposite ideas, I thought I had fallen into a parallel universe.

The Ambassadors’ Exchange: May Happenings

05-03-2023

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.

GLI Imagined Community Concert: “Our City, Our Stage” at Community MusicWorks

Megan Sesma (author), Sarah Howard, Raquel Serrano, Judith Sweet, and Julia Weldon, Global Leaders ’23 cohort members

04-05-2023

The events we imagined for “Our City, Our Stage” intend to honor CMW’s rich legacy of gathering community voices, centering relationships, and highlighting artistic pathways. In short, we wanted to help CMW coalesce more fully with its surrounding community. With that in mind, we designed preparatory activities for the community to enjoy together—activities such as community listening sessions, organized by youth leaders, that lead to the creation of mini murals based on community feedback.

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