Performance

A 16–year–old’s song is letting young men in Australia know it’s okay to express their emotions. “Because Boys” was written by Rory Phillips as part of the Boys’ Vocal Program in New South Wales.

Drawing inspiration from a Sufi poem about a flock of birds searching for the meaning of life, Teach for India has dreamed up a beautifully unique artistic vision of modern India. Promoting liberty, equality, fraternity, and justice, “The Conference of the Birds” is a Sufi– and Hamilton-inspired hop hop production co-created by Teach for India students and alumni and other performing artists.

If you’re a teaching artist, or have ever been one, you’ve probably wondered: Should I always take the lead in the learning process? Are there ways students can take the lead sometimes? What’s the best way for my students to learn?

Such questions are often the focus of “The Firebird Fellowship,” the program at the heart of the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM), a global innovation lab for changemakers tackling educational inequality through music education.

To complement the “Ambassador (Re)Introductions” published in April, the cohort recorded video introductions for the month of June. Listen to the Ambassadors as they say hello in their native languages, from every corner of the globe.

In my first Ensemble editorial, I wrote about how opportunities within classical music allowed me to bypass barriers caused by economic inequality in the Philippines. But this unequal distribution of resources still bothers me today, which is why I’m studying political science and hoping to go into policy research after graduation.

With just one year to go at college, I’ve been reflecting on the ways my musical training has influenced how I approach the social sciences. 

The National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela returned to Geneva this past April for a special performance at United Nations Headquarters, marking almost a decade since the visit of El Sistema founder Maestro José Antonio Abreu.

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.

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.

El Sistema programs, mark your calendars: the second Global Congress of El Sistema will be held at the Centro Nacional de Acción Social por la Música in Caracas, Venezuela on September 10–24, 2023.

In February 2022, the Philharmonie de Paris was filled with the music of young people from across the continent. Young musicians from all 27 E.U. member states, representing 15 European Sistema-inspired initiatives, came together to participate in an ambitious project—Orchestre Démos Europe.