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Words Matter, More Than You Think

Eric Booth, Founder of the ITAC Collaborative, Contributing Editor at The Ensemble News

02-02-2021

If I were King of Arts Education, I’d post an edict banning five words: amazing, fantastic, unbelievable, outstanding, incredible.

Most music educators use those words a lot, and always with good intent. They want to encourage, celebrate, and motivate their students. The words express the enthusiasm and affection they feel for their students. The King supports all of that. The edict has its eye on the cost of that impulse when it results in hyperbolic acclaim. Cumulatively, the cost is high.

An Interview with Dream Orchestra Founder/Director Ron Davis Álvarez

Interviewed by Patrick Scafidi, Executive Editor of The Ensemble News

01-06-2021

Last month, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music recognized Dream Orchestra Director (and El Sistema Sweden Artistic Director) Ron Davis Álvarez with the Göran Lagervall Pedagogy Prize for “his activities in 40 cultural schools, where he renewed the pedagogical orchestral tradition with his experience from Venezuela.” Just days later, Álvarez conducted a performance for the Global Teacher Prize Award Gala, hosted digitally this year. A former candidate for the Global Teacher Prize himself, Álvarez conducted 70 students from ten countries in a performance of Sara Bareilles’ song “Brave.” Afterward, Álvarez was kind enough to sit down with The World Ensemble to discuss his busy week, his experiences with the Dream Orchestra, and his pedagogical philosophy.

Youth-Driven Online Music-Making: Channeling innovation through the screen and into the global community

Nema Robinson, senior violist at BSO OrchKids and Peabody Preparatory’s Tuned In; Lowrider James, sophomore tubist at BSO OrchKids and Peabody Preparatory’s Tuned In; Amy Owens, soprano, teaching artist, and Director of Communications at the Collective Conservatory; Nick Skinner, Director of Operations and Strategic Planning at BSO OrchKids; and Daniel Trahey, Cofounder of The Collective Conservatory, Founder of Peabody Preparatory’s Tuned In, and Artistic Liaison for BSO OrchKids

01-05-2021

For ensemble music learning programs, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed at first to mean a mandate to compromise music learning, by squeezing and narrowing curriculums to fit into a suddenly two-dimensional space. As time went on, however, the field blossomed with creative initiatives. For our programs, the crisis was a call to action not only to channel innovation through a screen, but also to blow it open into a far-reaching, multi-dimensional, and globally expansive experience. The key? Collaboration—the kind that stretches to every corner of the globe the Internet can touch.

New Reports from LEGO Foundation Champion Acts of Play in Young Learning

01-05-2021

The LEGO Foundation is publishing a series of reports that gather a broad spectrum of viewpoints on creativity in learning. Their most recent report is “Creating Creators.” The LEGO Foundation describes its goal: “to build a future in which learning through play empowers children to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners.” These goals encounter arguments that are familiar to teachers in the arts—that the arts are “nice but not necessary.” LEGO takes a holistic view that highlights the ways in which children’s physical, social, cognitive, creative, and emotional skills complement and interact with one another through play. Read the full report here.

Carnegie Hall Offers Free Workshop for Young Songwriters

12-16-2020

You probably have several secret (or not-so-secret) young songwriters in your program—pass this resource along to them. Carnegie Hall has posted a five-part workshop on “How to Write a Song,” led by songwriter and performer Bridget Barkan. The series explores the power of songs and provides a step-by-step approach to crafting a song that expresses ideas and emotions; finding inspiration; writing a chorus, verse, and bridge; and making sure that the song has the communicative power of personal voice.

ArtsEdSearch and Khan Academy Offer Free Resource Libraries for the Arts Education Community

12-16-2020

Are you sometimes looking for solid research to back up your claims about your program’s value? ArtsEdSearch is the largest online clearinghouse for reliable arts education research to support practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders in the U.S. This searchable database (sort by age level, arts discipline, kinds of providers, and more) now holds over 300 studies gathered over eight years by the Arts Education Partnership. Many of the studies address relevant issues such as social and emotional learning, school engagement, and civic and community engagement.

The Influence of Music Education on Developing Children

Assal Habibi, Principal Investigator, Brain and Music Program, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles; Beatriz Ilari, Department Chair, Music Teaching and Learning, USC

12-01-2020

The past two decades of psychological and neuroscientific research on music have provided robust evidence that learning to play music can support brain maturation and the development of cognitive and social skills in children and adolescents. Learning an instrument requires long hours of practice, focused attention, memory, and discipline; mastering one involves the continuous capacity to improve motor, auditory, and executive skills, and is likely to influence the differential development, maintenance, and function of certain brain structures and systems.

KiddlyWinks

11-18-2020

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The International School of Music, Languages and Polytechnic Studies: A Longtime Dream Becomes Reality

Joseph Wasswa, Founder and CEO, IMLS

11-12-2020

Music can unite the world, produce unity and harmony in the community, and offer social and financial assurance. Having grown up humbly myself, I began dreaming in 2011 of starting an academic institution and cultural center for the young generation in my home area of Masaka, Uganda. That dream became the International School of Music, Languages and Polytechnic Studies (IMLS), located in the city of Masaka, near Lake Victoria.

El Sistema Venezuela: Academic Strategies in Times of Confinement

Eduardo Méndez, Executive Director, Fundamusical

11-04-2020

As the new school year takes off, we think it is a good moment to reach out to our friends in Sistema-inspired projects around the world, to share our experiences in teaching and caring for our kids throughout the months of quarantine.

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