Teaching & Learning

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.

What sounds better than a trip to Athens in October? How about the chance to meet and learn from arts educators from around the world?

Are you a music teacher looking to diversify your lesson plans? The Smithsonian Folkways website hosts a digital database of free music lesson plans from around the world.

With fewer than 15 fluent Lingít speakers left in the world, there is an urgent initiative to revitalize and sustain this language of the native Alaskan people in this area. In 2021, JAMM began to partner with elders in the Lingít community, and also with a number of organizations—Sealaska Corporation, Sealaska Heritage Institute, Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, Douglas Indian Association, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, and the University of Alaska Southeast—with the goal of integrating Lingít language, values, and culture into its established violin program.

Foster, a new initiative launched on June 2 by the African Music Library, is expanding opportunities for African music education in primary and secondary schools across the continent.

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.

Africa No Filter and the British Council have published a new resource that can benefit anyone involved in or interested in developing arts and cultural projects across Africa.

We often talk about prioritizing the wellbeing of the young people and communities we serve, but what about ourselves?

Regressive lawmaking in the U.S. has led some music educators to feel unsafe talking about race, gender, or history in the classroom. In response, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) a published a must-read report earlier this year on Divisive Concepts Laws (DCL) – legislative and executive orders that restrict teaching and learning activities related to race, gender, sexuality, and U.S. history—and their impact on music educators across the U.S.