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Agrigento: Studying Strengths and Challenges of Our Field

Louise Godwin, Coordinator (Operations, Grants, and Research), Agrigento

04-06-2022

Having established a grant program, we have learned from the music educators and researchers we fund. We have attended online conferences and seminars and reached out to a number of musicians whose work has intrigued us. In doing so, we have observed a field that is in a state of uncertainty, shifting and evolving. And, because of this state of uncertainty, we have also observed change taking place.

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.

Intergenerational Learning through Songwriting

Kateri Lirio, teaching artist; MAT, Longy School of Music, ’21

04-06-2022

During my graduate studies at the Longy School of Music at Bard College, I studied intergenerational learning—that is, how both young people and adults learn. I discovered that despite the generational and cultural divides between Gen Z-ers, baby boomers, and millennials, there were more similarities than differences. I wondered how I could foster authentic connections in an intergenerational space where everyone learns more about one another.

GLP Imagined Community Concert: Music to Move to

Rose Martus (writer), Emily Davis, Sandra Rivera, and Natalia Bohórquez Lozano, GLP ‘22 Cohort

03-16-2022

Shortly before our concert design was conceived and written, Eric Booth spoke to the GLP ‘22 cohort about using movement as a tool in teaching artistry. The message resonated with Emily, Natalia, Sandra, and me—we each had a story about how we taught someone, or learned from someone, using movement. We knew that movement had to fit into our event proposal El Sistema Greece (ESG), the organization we had been partnering with and learning from.

The Superar Effect: Overcoming Boundaries through ‘Music for All’

Alma Karić, Artistic Director, Superar Bosnia & Herzegovina

03-02-2022

I came to identify the issue as one of perception. Music should be seen as a tool for building up communities, for connecting people; for creating bonds of empathy and acceptance between them. And then, in late 2016, these thoughts manifested Superar in my life. “Superar” is a Spanish word that means “to overcome boundaries/obstacles.” What a wonderful and strong word, I thought immediately.

Social Justice, Social Curriculum at El Sistema Aeolian

Clark Bryan, Founder and Artistic/Executive Director, The Aeolian Performing Arts Centre

03-02-2022

I was already focusing on the usual aspects of music education, like technique, music literacy, music history, and musicianship. It’s easy to fill those columns as musicians; we’re trained to do it. Much harder was encouraging teachers to fill that Social Learning column.

Scenes from Skaramagas Refugee Camp

Léa Dao Van, Community Manager, El Sistema Greece

03-02-2022

Skaramagas was a place full of life and laughter, where people living under harsh conditions could still surprise you with generosity and optimism. Compared to many refugee camps, it was quite peaceful; I can’t count how many birthday parties, shared meals, and Arabic teas I attended while I worked there. And yet it was also unstable, an ecosystem of hardships and irritations—inevitable when many people of different cultures are forced to live together in a place they would rather not be. Against this backdrop, our students grew up.

SIMM: An International Research Platform for Music’s Role in Social and Community Work

Lukas Pairon, Founding Director, SIMM

03-02-2022

We came to understand that part of the explanation for the relative lack of research could be found in exaggerated rhetoric and redemptionist discourse about the power of music. In addition, many people seemed to think it was simply not necessary to do research on something that is already considered obvious. (My colleagues and I sometimes encountered such reactions in relation to our own scholarly work.) Fortunately, this has started to change recently, and more research projects are now being undertaken in this field.

Finding Harmony in Chennai and Delhi

Sambhavi Mathiyazhagan, NalandaWay Foundation, Chennai

03-02-2022

In India’s most disadvantaged communities, musicianship is not always encouraged. Domestic violence is not uncommon in some homes; in others, girls are not allowed to sing due to household chores. Some families simply don’t like their children singing. And yet many of these very same communities have produced the members of the NalandaWay Foundation’s Children’s Choir.

GLP Imagined Community Concert: TEN Years of Lullabies—A Celebration

Helen Ella (writer), Angela Sindeli, Ignacio Barron Viela, and Laura Jay, GLP ‘22 Cohort

02-16-2022

As Global Leaders cohort members, we have learned that a good teaching artist engages audience members in their own communities, creating magical moments that can endure and inspire. With that in mind, we set out to propose a community concert for Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project.

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