the world ensemble

You may want to subscribe to Music World News, a newsletter from the International Music Council (in association with the European Music Council and the EU Creative Europe Programme).

This article on Lapsinäkökulma (Finnish for “Children’s Perspective”) presents the case for child-centered research from a doctoral student and researcher who is studying El Sistema programs in different countries.

From August to December 2020, the Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie podcast and Creative Generation collaborated with 22 inspiring artists, educators, and community activists—21 of whom are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)—through the We Can’t Go Back video series.

UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) has created a free, comprehensive “Policy Toolbox,” 500 policy options for educational management and planning based on your country’s needs.

Called “the X-prize for music” by Wired, the annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition has announced its 2021 winners.

We are re-sharing this February resource for those who may have missed it: Please consider encouraging an extraordinary young person to apply for the Global Student Prize (aligned with the Global Teacher Prize).

One Israeli man’s hobby became the world’s busiest Bach website. Aryeh Aron’s lifelong passion for music (especially jazz and Bach) turned his curiosity into a website that gets 15,000-20,000 visits a day. If you have a Bach question or curiosity, now you know where to go: The Bach Cantatas Website.

Economist John Maynard Keynes once wrote, “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” Often, in new program development, cultural innovators must look past ideas that become too comfortable and too safe in order to create a “wow” idea. In working with the Global Leaders’ Program (GLP) 2021 cohort, our group of changemakers has been challenged to push through old stereotypes and ideas to pioneer new ways of thinking. Through these creative pathways, arts organizations will be able to curate and implement thoughtful programming for their communities.

In November 2019, I wrote an article for The World Ensemble titled “We Have Work to Do in How We Describe Our Work,” issuing a call to socially motivated music programs to more authentically and effectively describe the outcomes of the socially engaged music education they deliver. Since that time, we at Creative Generation—a global NGO working to inspire, connect, and amplify young creatives catalyzing social change—have sought to more closely align the ways we describe our work with our organizational values.

Congratulations to Sweden’s Dream Orchestra Young Leaders Program for being one of four winners of the 2021 Ockenden International Prize.