Gather Together

ITAC4, the Fourth International Teaching Artist Conference, will take place in New York City on 13-15 September (first time in the United States), and is completely sold out. 

The first Social Impact of Music Making Research Seminar will be held 5-9 November in Helsinki, Finland at the Sibelius Academy Training Center.

I had the privilege last month of attending the L.A. Phil’s 2018 Take a Stand Festival, Symposium, and Teaching Intensive. The Festival brought together students aged 12-18 from programs directly inspired by El Sistema or similarly dedicated to social change and youth development through instrumental music education. About 140 students, from 36 programs in 19 states plus Puerto Rico, participated in this ten-day festival, which began at Soka University in Orange County and finished in Los Angeles with performances in Walt Disney Concert Hall. The students were grouped into two ensembles: the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestros Gustavo Dudamel and Michael Morgan, and the Junior String Ensemble, conducted by Maestros Jeffrey Grogan and Soo Han.

Thirteen U.S. El Sistema-inspired programs have been accepted (after a competitive application
process) into El Sistema USA’s PRESTO grant program, which provides group learning, mentorship, and funding to programs in their first five years. 

Ghetto Classics Tree Planting: Taking advantage of the April rains in Nairobi, the Ghetto Classics students in Korogocho made the decision to improve their surroundings by planting trees.

Sistema New Zealand had its National Hui (gathering) on 30 June in Hamilton, central North Island of New Zealand. This biennial gathering included Sistema Whangarei, Sistema Aotearoa, Arohanui Strings and the hosts were Sistema Waikato. The New Zealand Rōpū (consortium) operates by a memorandum of understanding rather than by a centralised administration, and preparation for the event included Skype meetings to create the type of event and then to agree on shared repertoire.

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On June 27-28, Goshen College hosted the Great Lakes El Sistema Seminario in Goshen, Indiana.

On May 15, 2018, the Colombian national Sistema program Batuta brought together young musicians from all over the country to join in a huge concert paying tribute to Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu, who died on March 24th.

If “student voice” could be captured in a fairy tale on film, here is one way it might look.

Sistema programs in many countries are exploring ways to increase “student voice” in order to intensify students’ motivation and social development.  A program in Bosnia has taken a unusual approach.