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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.
 
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Partnering with Parents

Carolyn Sybesma, The People’s Music School, Director of Artistic Planning & Partnerships

11-02-2019

The People’s Music School (TPMS) is the first 100% free music school of its kind in the country. Founded in 1976 by Rita Simo, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, our school has grown into a strong community movement. We serve 1,000 students ages 5-18 through programs in the four corners of Chicago: Uptown, Albany Park, Back of the Yards and Bronzeville.

The Global Leaders Plant a Musical Seed in Tlaxcala, Mexico

Raul Vergara, Cofounder and International Programs Director, Global Leaders Program

10-02-2019

Tlaxcala, located in the heart of Mexico, is one of the states with the greatest cultural activism in the country. In fact, it is a referent at the national level in terms of student participation of musical programs, a process inspired by the Venezuelan model “El Sistema”, which was first implemented in Tlaxcala 30 years ago. Within this process, the role of Casa de Música (Music Home)—an initiative of the Tlaxcalan Institute of Culture—has been very important, allowing for thousands the opportunity to approach a musical instrument through the different venues offered by the state.

Aesthetic Perspectives from a Musical Viewpoint

Chloë Kline, Community MusicWorks; Education Director and Resident Musician

10-01-2019

The concept of art as an act of revolution – as a means to foment change, spur consciousness, and imagine new realities – is as old as art itself. For example, drums would sound to unseen others, and cave images explored individuals’ relationships to known and unknown animal species.

Making a Difference with Mariachi Music

Juan Morales, Mariachi practitioner and Director, The Mariachi Studio, Delano, CA

10-01-2019

Advocacy for culturally responsive music curricula that can be used as tools of empowerment for youth in marginalized areas has been the focus of my work for two decades. At The Mariachi Studio, we use mariachi rather than classical music as an agent of social change; but we have many characteristics in common with programs directly inspired by El Sistema.

Celebrating African Diasporic Culture With Castle of our Skins

Ashleigh Gordon, Artistic and Executive Director, Castle of our Skins

09-02-2019
The African American poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni begins her “Poem for Nina” with the following lines: we are all imprisoned in the castle of our skins/ and some of us have said so be it/ if i am in jail my castle shall become/ my rendezvous

Boston String Academy Joins Orquestra Geração

Marielisa and Mariesther Alvarez, Boston String Academy Co-Directors

09-02-2019

“Visiting Portugal with my BSA orchestra was a trip full of memories that will never stop coming back to me. It’s amazing how, despite the expected language barrier, there were no walls between us, like we didn’t need words to form friendships because the music and the passion connecting us was enough. The music is the center of it all – why we were there, why we knew each other, why we would see each other days after the trip. It’s incredible how when you love something, you don’t want to stop doing it. After spending almost eight hours playing, barely awake by the end of the day, I still wanted to wake up and do it all over again the next day because I enjoy music; I enjoy playing it, the feeling and the togetherness of the orchestra, the people I meet, the places I get to see, the pieces I get to play, the emotion I get to feel, the memories that are present forever like friendly ghosts haunting my mind, traveling wherever I go, bringing it all with me. I may be in Boston, or in L.A., or in Venezuela, or anywhere in the world, but as long as I have music, and all that comes with it, Portugal will never leave me. It changed me far too much for me to forget.”

Community Trust

Alex Rosales Garcia, Teaching Artist/Bassoonist

09-01-2019

Undocumented immigrants share the unique experience of eventually facing the implications of their legal status. For me, that understanding developed in middle school – six years after I crossed the border into the U.S. in 1995, with only shoes, pants, and a sweatshirt.

Principles of Scale for Growing a Sistema System

Dalouge Smith, CEO of The Lewis Prize for Music

09-01-2019

In the early days of the U.S. El Sistema movement, Maestro Abreu regularly spoke at national conferences. Often during these events, he would state, “El Sistema is not a system.” Yet we all marvelled at the interconnected structure of neighborhood núcleos, regional seminarios, state youth orchestras, and the multiple levels of youth orchestras based at Caracas’s national conservatory.

The YOLA National Festival and Symposium in Los Angeles

Juliana Andreina Perez, Advisor/consultant, El Sistema in Venezuela and the United States

08-02-2019

In July, the Los Angeles Philharmonic sponsored the YOLA National Festival and Symposium, a multi-dimensional gathering for the El Sistema movement in the United States. The Festival was an intensive orchestral training program for students ages 12-18 from across the country; close to 150 young musicians came together for two weeks of immersive rehearsals, sectionals, concerts, and community-building activities. 

An American in Gothenburg

Emily Kubitskey, Teaching Artist/Conductor

08-01-2019

Often, when we think about the word ‘culture,’ we think about the qualities of a community—its shared music, food, or religion. However, the word is derived from the Latin word ‘colere,’ which means to tend or cultivate; so when we take a more active perspective, we can define culture as ‘the medium for growth.’

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