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

From Accommodation to Co-Creation: How Students Continue to Transform Our Approach to Adaptive Music Education

11-05-2025

When Lotus Centre for Special Music Education opened its doors in Ottawa, Canada in 2012, we thought our mission was clear: provide access to high-quality music instruction for students with exceptionalities and disabilities who were being left out of traditional lessons. What we didn’t yet realize was that our students were about to become our greatest teachers, shifting our organization from a provider of services to a learning community shaped directly by their needs and strengths.

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.

EDITORIAL
Universal Design for Learning: A Natural Fit for El Sistema-inspired Programs

10-02-2024

Imagine that you are walking up a staircase that leads to a school entrance, and you notice a sign that says, “ramp located at the back door.” Okay, so the sign and the ramp make the building technically accessible—but a person who can’t use stairs has to go all the way to the back of the building, locate the ramp, and hope that the door is open.

What if, instead of a staircase in front and a separate ramp in back, the architect had created a walkway that incorporates stairs and ramps all in one place?

This is the foundational metaphor of Universal Design for Learning, or UDL.

Miami Lighthouse Youth Music Program: Reimagining Music as an Empowerment Tool

03-01-2023

Nearly two decades ago, when I started going completely blind, I came to the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired to learn how to live as a blind person. It was there that I encountered extraordinary young people who either were born blind or went blind when they were young—but who were united in their abiding love of and talent for music.

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