Teaching & Learning

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

Two New Books on Music Therapy and Displaced People

10-01-2025

Two new books examine the use of music therapy with people who have experienced forced displacement, highlighting the importance of historical and contextual knowledge of how music can both help and harm people.

In Genoa, an Ensemble for Every Phase of Life

10-01-2025

Trillargento is a community-based music program founded in Genoa, Italy, that explores how ensemble music practice can foster social inclusion, personal growth, and cultural participation. Over the years, we’ve grown into a multi-layered ecosystem of ensembles, each responding to a specific need but together forming a single educational journey that integrates musical development with social and emotional learning.

U.S. School Expands Music Program with 3D-Printed Violins

10-01-2025

After budget cuts, a U.S. school is getting creative to help more students participate in music.

Sitting in the Student Seat at AIM’s Fire Up Residency

10-01-2025

That first day, I felt like a teenager: somewhat defiant, hesitant to initiate, eager to observe, even mistrusting…but also wanting to chat, meet people, laugh, and share.

AIM knew what they were doing. We’d found ourselves on the other side of the classroom, sitting in the student chair. And in experimenting with ways to develop our own community and agency—our capacity for action—as educators, we found ourselves viewing students’ needs with new empathy.

EUYO Hosts Free Online Symposium for Ensemble Managers

10-01-2025

The European Union Youth Orchestra will host their annual Model Sharing Symposium on October 13–17.

Big Noise Trains Students at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

10-01-2025

In 2018, Big Noise developed a module for undergraduate students with staff at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

EDITORIAL
Stronger Together: An Enduring Leitmotif

10-01-2025

More than 12 years ago, during my first visit to the then-fledgling Sinfonía por el Perú program, I met a boy—let’s call him Juan—who stood out from the crowd of children. Not only because his double bass was more than twice his size. It was also his charisma, the joyful enthusiasm with which he played his giant instrument, and, even then, his social skills and his attentive devotion to his fellow musicians at his núcleo in the La Victoria district of Lima, Peru.

El Sistema Oman Launching This Fall

09-03-2025

A new Sistema program is coming to Oman this fall.

New Guiding Pillars Amplify Our Collective Voice

09-03-2025

Nearly two decades ago, a handful of United States programs that were inspired by El Sistema in Venezuela opened their doors. Since then, El Sistema USA® has become a network of more than 150 organizations—the largest such network in the world. Our members represent a diverse array of music programs from dozens of states, as well as international programs in adjacent countries from Canada to Haiti. Given the diversity and breadth of our network, it’s reasonable to ask: What is the common thread between these programs? And why does this collective work matter? Watching and helping this coalition grow and evolve, we have been able to isolate a few distinct qualities that unite us and affirm the power of our collective voice.

EDITORIAL

A Space to Be: What One Classroom Taught Me about Art, Listening, and Inclusion

09-03-2025

This was a Mus-e session at a public primary school in Genova, Italy, in a room filled with light, nervous energy and about 20 children in motion. Some moved eagerly. Some hung back. Some followed Olivia Giovannini, the teaching artist leading the session. Others wandered in their own rhythm. Throughout it all, something subtle was happening: no one was being excluded. 

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