Program Design

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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BLUME Haiti: Building Leaders Using Music Education in Haiti

Rachael Cohen, BLUME Haiti board member, Global Leader 2020 Cohort 

12-02-2019

BLUME Haiti uses the extraordinary impact of music as a tool to empower musicians throughout Haiti. Responding to urgent needs after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, co-founder Janet Anthony, who has taught in the country since 1996, saw the opportunity for an organization that could facilitate getting instruments and supplies to Haiti to help with rebuilding efforts. Thus, with the help of her colleagues and students, BLUME Haiti was born.

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.

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.

Sistema Aotearoa Grows in New Zealand

Jess Hindin, Music Director, Sistema Aotearoa

09-02-2019

Since our inception in 2011, there have been many exciting developments over the years, and we now work with over 1000 children throughout the year at Sistema Aotearoa. Starting as an afterschool-only program, we have now developed into an in-school and after-school program, giving regular group lessons in our six local partner schools during the school day, then seeing those same children again weekly after school at our base, Ōtara Music Arts Centre in south Auckland, New Zealand.

The Social Classroom of the Teatro Real

Maria Guerrero, founder and CEO of Acción Social por la Música and Blanca Guillén, Music Therapist and Coordinator of the Aula Social

08-02-2019

The Aula Social (Social Classroom) program of the Social Action Foundation for Music of Madrid, Spain, was launched in September 2015, with the active support of the Teatro Real, Madrid’s legendary opera house.  The launch was propelled by an intensive weeklong workshop offered by a team of professionals from the well-known Special Education Program of El Sistema in Venezuela.

Fostering Epic Parents

Anne Campbell, Education Director, Catamount Arts/EPIC Music

07-01-2019

EPIC Music, in St. Johnsbury, VT, was one of four El Sistema-inspired organizations recently invited to partner with a team of Duke University undergraduates to explore parent engagement in El Sistema USA member organizations. Parent engagement is an important goal for us; we have talked for more than a year about offering violin workshops for parents, so that they can understand our students’ challenges and learn how to help their children practice at home.

El Sistema Hong Kong

Melissa Alexandra Niño, Artistic Director and Strings Principal, El Sistema Hong Kong

06-02-2019

El Sistema Hong Kong (ESHK) is a registered charitable institution that since 2017 has provided free-of-charge musical training to people of all ages in difficult social and economic conditions.

Illuminating True Progress for All Students

Reynaldo Ramirez, Program Director, Soundscapes, Newport News,VA

06-01-2019

As a Sistema movement, the two main goals we aspire to are musical growth and social growth. We often use some iteration of the motto “social change through music.” However, it is often hard to show data that supports this. El Sistema-inspired programs tend to more easily keep track of information pertaining to musical growth. They accomplish this through playing tests, juries, and concerts.

The Archipelago Project

Armand Hall, Director of Education, Archipelago Project & Executive/Artistic Director, ROCmusic Collaborative; Daniel Trahey, Executive Director, Archipelago Project & Artistic Director, OrchKids

04-01-2019

The Archipelago Project’s objective is to empower student creativity and ownership by supplying musical knowledge, performance opportunities, and professional models to inspire the next generation of engaged musicians. For the past 15 years, Archipelago Project’s iterative process in curriculum design has resulted in our Musical Leadership Academy, a summer music camp focused on providing a diverse population of students and teaching artists with opportunities to create music together, learn when to lead and to listen, and thrive in the ensemble as a metaphor for community.

Collective Composition

Cecille Elliott, Director of Creative Play, BRAVO Youth Orchestras, Portland, OR

02-01-2019

At BRAVO Youth Orchestras, there are ongoing conversations about the impact of introducing collective composition–composing together as a group–often focusing on how it impacts the staff, our students, and our community, and on what it means to facilitate and support a collective musical voice. There’s an active effort to establish equitable practices that reinforce a supportive environment for BRAVO students during creative projects. BRAVO’s central goal is student empowerment to discover what it is they want to say through their music.

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