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The Ensemble seeks to connect and inform all people who are committed to ensemble music education for youth empowerment and social change.

Online Resources for Teaching Artists

04-18-2023

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

New (Free) Database Catalogs Works by Women and Gender-Marginalized Composers

04-18-2023

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. 

El Sistema News around the World

04-18-2023

A few news hits from Sistema programs around the world:

Music Therapy Takes on ChatGPT

04-18-2023

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.

Voices of Culture Brainstorming Report: “Youth, Mental Health, and Culture”

04-18-2023

The European Commission has set out to show how participation in arts and cultural programs positively impacts youth mental health in a recently published Brainstorming Report, Youth, Mental Health, and Culture.

Q&A: Jazz Hands For Autism Teacher-in-Training Tyler Roberts on Classroom Management, Confidence, and Booking Gigs

04-05-2023

Downtown Los Angeles usually sees about ten inches of rain for the season. As of this writing, we’re 12 inches ahead of schedule.

Happily, the recent precipitation hasn’t dampened Tyler Roberts’ spirits. He’s got a lot to beam about: he’s the sunny spot at the center of a classroom at Kayne Eras Center in Culver City, CA, where he teaches drums to five spunky elementary students. Tyler’s smile lights up the room and his laid-back, inquisitive nature serves both him and his students well.

Let’s get to know a bit about Tyler, his gift for teaching, and what’s on his horizon.

‘Hosts in Their Own Home’: True Interculturalism at Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy

03-01-2023

As I began my career teaching Mexican music to children, the advent of multiculturalism promised increased representation but actually delivered narrow spaces that forced us into stereotypes, akin to Taco Tuesday at the cultural center. So I began to practice interculturalism, within which we took control of our own self-definition and expression. We studied our traditions from within and created bridges to people of various cultures directly.

Because They Can: A Youth Orchestra in Canada Takes on Mahler

12-07-2022

Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony “Titan” is a famously formidable work. This four-movement composition by one of Austria’s greatest composers lasts almost an hour, requiring performers to have endurance as well as musical skill. Performances of Mahler 1 are generally done by professional and university-level musicians—until now. In June 2025, the musicians of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO), the youth orchestra of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, will embark on a summer-long tour of Canada during which they will perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Social Justice, Social Curriculum at El Sistema Aeolian

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.

Save the Date: El Sistema USA Symposium & Seminario, April 28–30

02-16-2022

El Sistema USA has announced that their 2022 National Symposium and Seminario will take place virtually on April 28–30, 2022.

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