Austin Soundwaves

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

Austin Soundwaves Alum Featured on NPR’s From the Top

05-04-2021

Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist and Austin Soundwaves alumna Daniela Santiago was recently featured on the nationally syndicated radio program From the Top as part of their “Musical Roots” virtual concert. Catch her nine-minute appearance in podcast form via Soundcloud or view the entire concert on YouTube.

Mourning and Honoring a Student Leader

01-07-2020

The hours, days, and weeks following the death of Draylen Mason at the hands of a serial bomber in March of 2018 are difficult to look back upon. To lose any student is indescribably tragic, but losing Dray was a deep and personal anguish to all of us at Austin Soundwaves (ASW); he was, and continues to be, the heart and soul of our El Sistema-inspired program. In mourning, we learned how much we at ASW depend on our students, sometimes leaning on them just as much as (or more than) they lean on us. Their strength was remarkable during that time, and the energy that typically fuels teenage intransigence was instead diverted two-fold into leading music-making and creating remembrances for Dray. We grieved and didn’t simply move on. And though it would have been easy to focus on the perniciousness of the circumstances, we felt a grave and humbling responsibility to persist in recognizing and commemorating Draylen’s growing legacy.

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