Program Design

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

Regions

Africa

Asia/Oceania

Europe

Latin America

North America

Topics

Teaching & Learning

Program Design

Student Voice & Leadership

Community Building

Collaborations

Funding & Support

Perspectives & Collective Action

News & Resources

In South Africa, a Marimba Band Moves with the Music

Thandeka Dlamini, Band Manager, Organizer, and Coach, Goede Hoop Marimba Band

06-03-2026

Since 2014, the Goede Hoop Marimba Band has operated in Boksburg, Gauteng, a small South African town in the smallest South African province. The band started in 2014 at the Goede Hoop Primary School, the hub where all practice takes place, as a way of keeping children out of the streets after school, committing them to something that could positively impact their future, and strengthening their community bonds.

Music in an “Off” Year: MiniSEYO Launches an Eclectic Format in Italy

Maria Majno, SONG President and Sistema Europe Vice President, and Nicola Tomasi, Project Coordinator, MiniSEYO

06-03-2026

Since the inception of the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra in 2012, our international network has created SEYO summer camps every two or three years, bringing young people together from different countries for a week of rehearsing and performing together. It’s an exciting tradition!—and its only downside is the restlessness of the participating members…during the “off” years, when camps don’t take place. 

EDITORIAL
Attending to the Skills of Attention

Eric Booth, Cofounder and Contributing Editor, The Ensemble; Cofounder, ITAC; Senior Faculty, AIM

06-03-2026

“Spotlight attention vs. lantern attention.” I first encountered this distinction in the work of the U.S. psychologist Allison Gopnick.

Spotlight attention means bringing full focus to a specific task. We develop this capacity over time, and we must!—it’s hard to succeed in life without the ability to focus well. Schooling is dedicated to developing this capacity: all those hours sitting at a desk and “paying attention” to information that rarely feels relevant; all those tests to measure spotlight skills.

After Years of Outreach, Brass for Africa Puts Down Roots

Ronald Kabuye, Country Director, Brass for Africa – Uganda

05-06-2026

For years, Brass for Africa has worked toward one powerful goal: using music to empower all young people and their communities to fulfill their potential and thrive. Since 2009, that mission has come to life through an outreach model, wherein music and life-skills teachers make long, often demanding journeys across communities.

It worked. It reached thousands. But in 2026, we’re trying something new: the Hub Model.

EDITORIAL
Practicing Collaboration

Angelica Cortez, Executive Director, Suzuki Association of the Americas

05-06-2026

In arts education programs, we tend to work with our heads down. Doing our work every day is enough: it takes more time than we have to create our lesson plans, to build healthy organizational infrastructure that is adaptive and responsive, or even to collaborate with the colleagues within our own organizations. As artists and arts leaders, we forget to look up and out. But as various crises combine forces to pull us away from each other, our need for collective work is not something we can afford to have on a backburner. It needs to be a central focus. We need to build strong local networks and to diversify our collaborators. 

We need to connect—with fellow arts organizations, and with organizations we might never consider in our daily work.

EDITORIAL
The Stories We’re Speaking Into

Dr. Tasha Golden, singer-songwriter and behavioral scientist

04-01-2026

Across the field of music for social impact, a lot of energy goes toward communication: Tell your story. Build your evidence base. Find the right combination of data and narrative, and you’ll finally get the support or decisions you’re seeking.

I work across sectors on exactly these goals: helping organizations design research studies that reflect their unique approaches and articulate their impact in ways that actually land. So I get it: refining communication is valuable work.

But it’s not the full picture. And our failure to see that full picture keeps us from igniting the changes we value. 

In Rhode Island, a Music Center Becomes a Community Haven

Sebastian Ruth, Founder and Artistic Director, Community MusicWorks

04-01-2026

Last weekend, in the U.S. city of Providence, Rhode Island, the renowned pianist Emanuel Ax visited Community MusicWorks for a pair of concerts in collaboration with our students and our professional ensemble in residence. Manny’s visit helped to celebrate our CMW Center, which was only a dream when he first came in 2017.

During Manny’s first visit, one concert took place in a neighborhood taqueria, and another on the basketball court of a nearby community center. In many ways, the concerts last weekend marked the new chapter we find ourselves in, welcoming children, families, musicians, and special guest artists into our purpose-built center.

EDITORIAL
Playing in the Same Key: Aligning Purpose and Practice for Students

Fiona Cunningham, Director, Academy for Impact through Music

03-04-2026

“What’s the biggest thing keeping you up at night, as a leader or as a teaching artist?”

When Nikoletta Polydorou, founder of Sistema Cyprus, recently posed this question to music-for-social-action leaders and teaching artists across different countries and contexts, one concern surfaced repeatedly: when a program’s purpose isn’t clear, and collectively owned, the learning is less focused and effective.

EDITORIAL
Musical Benchmarks Build Equity

Adam Karelin-Anderson, Executive and Artistic Director, Riverside Arts Academy

02-04-2026

Over the past decade, our field has worked tirelessly to ensure that music education is holistic, addresses socio-emotional learning, and is culturally relevant to our students. These are incredibly important objectives that will help us ensure that well-adjusted, diverse people shape the future of our society and music industry.

But to diversify that industry, they have to be able to enter it.

GUEST PERSPECTIVE
A Foot in Both Worlds: Mentorship and Maturation at Sistema Ravinia

Guadalupe Ramirez, Sistema Ravinia Alumna and Intern

02-04-2026

As Sistema Ravinia prepared for in-person learning after the pandemic lockdowns, I attended a Zoom meeting with other incoming high school freshmen, most of whom were good friends. A manager asked us, “This is the first time we’ve had high school students in our program. What would you guys like to see happen?”

Share

ABOUT US MASTHEAD THE AMBASSADORS THE ARCHIVES SUBSCRIBE CONTACT
© Copyright 2022 Ensemble News