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Empathetic Music Programming
Or: How I Learned to Stop Teaching Like an Englishman

Philip Monk, Founder, Mbale Schools Band

08-04-2021

I’m often asked about the Mbale Schools Band. It’s easy to see why: we are a celebrated and widely visible British-style brass band founded in Uganda, a country with no tradition of or overwhelming interest in such an ensemble. But while ours is a success story, it is also one of listening and deep empathy—a parable for the virtue of placing yourself in your students’ shoes. Without their wisdom, it’s likely that we would not have made it past year three.

The Life of Jorge Peña Hen, Part I: A Giant of Our Cultural Heritage

Raúl Vergara, Cofounder and International Programs Director, Global Leaders Program; Graduate, La Escuela Experimental de Música Jorge Peña Hen

08-04-2021

Winter 2012, La Serena, Chile: an overcast but mild day, with a soft, chilly ocean breeze from the Pacific Ocean’s Humboldt Current. I was with Victor Hugo, a high school friend of mine who had put his trumpet aside to study law and journalism at the university before becoming the editor of a local newspaper. We were both accompanying Don Juan Orrego Salas, a 93-year-old gentleman who was visiting our city to pay a posthumous tribute to a dear friend of his, to whom he had never gotten to say goodbye in person. We bought a bouquet of flowers and entered the front gate of the cemetery without an exact knowledge of where we were going—which was not a problem, since everyone we passed knew the precise location of the memorial to Jorge Peña Hen.

Using Music Learning to Help Our Young People Rebuild Affective Ties

María Guinand, Artistic Director, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela; Vice President, International Federation for Choral Music

08-04-2021

The pandemic has not been just a biological or epidemiological problem. It has also created enormous disruptions in our social and affective lives. Especially in the spaces of education and social interaction, it has inhibited all the imperceptible links that unite us and that allow us to interact socially. For our children and youth, this has produced reluctance, lack of interest and enthusiasm, and, in some cases, depression. A year of isolation changes people—especially young people—and their perspectives on what is important in life.

Floods of Fire: An Evolving Artist-Led Community Building Project

Hilary Kleinig, multi-disciplinary musician based in Adelaide, Australia

08-04-2021

What is the role and purpose of the orchestra in the 21st century? As society, culture, and funding models change, how audiences engage with live music also continues to shift, which has led to an “industry-wide existential soul-searching.” Some argue that the traditional orchestral model is risk-averse and outdated, and that orchestras could better address some of these issues by “creating a new canon” and “better connecting with the world.”

With orchestras around the world seeking new ways to work, engage, and connect with communities, I’d like to share with you a project that I’m involved in, where an orchestra and its community are collaborating in deep and meaningful ways to tell their unique stories.

World Ensemble Day at SEYO

Eric Booth, Cofounder, The Ensemble and World Ensemble Newsletters

08-04-2021

Twenty-something short videos in an online gallery. They aren’t the finalists for a film festival “short film” competition, or a set of algorithm-selected favorites. They are us, the best of us—short films about innovative solutions that music for social change programs around the world submitted for World Ensemble Day workshops at SEYO (Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra) Summerfest 2021. World Ensemble Day celebrated the proud history and healthy future of innovation to address the challenges and fulfill the high goals of our programs—a fitting presentation for a news hub that exists to connect our field around all kinds of aspirational ideas.

August Update

08-04-2021

This month, the Ambassadors responded to the prompt: “What’s your favorite place in your city/town?” Read on to learn about their special places.

Join World Ensemble Day at SEYO SummerFest on July 22

07-21-2021

By now, you’ve likely seen our requests for programs to share something fun and innovative about themselves by sending short videos to be featured during World Ensemble Day, part of Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra’s (SEYO) 2021 SummerFest.

EU Shares Report on Gender Inequality in the Cultural Sector

07-21-2021

In June, the European Commission released a report on practices to help close the gender gap in the cultural and creative sector. The report, which includes many concrete policy recommendations, was written by the OMC (Open Method of Coordination) Working Group of Member States’ Experts; it emphasizes the role that culture and the arts play in promoting gender equity.

Connect with Other Arts Organizations Working with Vulnerable Populations

07-21-2021

If you work with asylum-seekers, refugees, or other vulnerable populations, you will want to subscribe to art27. Founded on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 27), the organization serves as a platform for “artists, arts educators, and arts organizations” who work with vulnerable populations. Specifically, art27 is a network where like-minded organizations can collaborate and share expertise.

Women in African Music

07-21-2021

The organization Sounds of Africa organized a virtual museum celebrating “Women in African Music,” using the photography of British-Nigerian artist Michael Tubes. The exhibition shared photos of African women musicians, taken over the past ten years, in order to “highlight, celebrate and empower the challenges faced by women within the industry.”

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