Student Voice & Leadership

We know that many programs use collective composition as a creative boost for students. But an experiment at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA Institute Children’s Orchestra was a new one for us at The Ensemble.

Yesterday, The Lewis Prize for Music debuted four short films featuring stories of impact from Creative Youth Development organizations across the U.S.

“Your alumni will become your best assets for your mission.” That’s what social entrepreneurs from Changemaker Fellowships told AIM’s leadership when we began in 2018. So far, we agree. 

There are not many music programs in the world with the word “Mystics” in their name. But it serves us well. Like many Ensemble readers, we are a passionate group of musicians working toward creating social inclusion and happy childhoods through music. And we find inspiration in the all-inclusive and peaceful messages of mystic poets like Kabir Das and Mahatma Gandhi.

The King School and Project Music just wrapped their Ninth Annual El Sistema Residency, hosting a cluster of east coast–based El Sistema USA programs for a weekend of musical exchange and performance.

It’s been a decade since we launched the first El Sistema–inspired program in Japan, in the city of Soma, Fukushima Province. Our goal was to offer support, community, and dignity to the children affected by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident. Our vision statement at that time was: “Community regenerated by children with life skills through music.”

Since then, we’ve learned a great deal about the needs of the children we serve and the primary outcomes we want to be aiming at. Accordingly, we’ve reshaped the vision statement as follows: “Collaborative society where everyone can be free and creative.”

A new research project in Scotland is taking its cue from young people.

In mainstream media, youth voices are widely absent, overlooked, or sensationalized. Youth on Record (YOR) aims to address this gap through our creative youth programming, including its Podcasting Production Internship. The program seeks to foster a supportive environment where young people explore creative storytelling and produce podcasts that amplify their voices and ideas.

El Sistema Toronto students teamed up with award-winning Indigenous hip hop artist Cody Coyote and Juno-nominated Toronto rapper Saukrates to write and record “WAY: We Are Young,” a song that captures both the hopefulness and vulnerability of young people who are coming of age in a rapidly changing world.

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.