Educación musical

During the 2022-23 academic year, Buffalo String Works began asking the question: “How can we be more intentional about the music we’re asking our students to learn and perform?” Over the course of attempting to answer this question, the BSW Music Library Development Project was born—resulting in the commissioning and composition of a brand-new work for student string orchestra: “Aka” by Wai Hin Ko Ko.

El Sistema USA (ESUSA) just released their 2024 Census Report, with data from 84 member programs serving over 30,000 young people—a 26% increase since 2022! 

The summer of 2025 brought a harsh financial reality. Like so many nonprofits in the United States this year, we lost more than 50% in foundation funding—money we’d counted on to hire adult teachers for our summer programming. We couldn’t bring in the experienced instructors who had anchored our summer camps in previous years.

This loss created an unexpected void that my teaching team and I didn’t know how to fill. To our surprise, our Urban Fellows and Junior Fellows—a group of our older and emerging student leaders—stepped up to fill the void.

In the city where LiberaMusica operates—Pesaro, Italy, right on the Mediterranean coast—the connection with nature is strong and part of everyday life. From the Apennine Mountains to the coastline, children grow up surrounded by an environment that is rich, fragile, and, today more than ever, in need of protection. In recent years, our region has been marked by extreme events: floods, droughts, and changing seasons are reshaping our landscape. Schools and associations have been working hard to raise ecological awareness, and LiberaMusica wanted to contribute by doing what we know best: making music.

The Brazilian Institute of Music and Education (IBME – Instituto Brasileiro de Música e Educação) was launched in 2011 with just 15 students. Today, it serves more than 4,000 young people and continues to grow. Among its many talented ensembles, one stands out: the Orquestra Sinfônica Juvenil Chiquinha Gonzaga, an all-female youth orchestra that celebrates the intersection of Brazilian classical and popular music.

An instructor once told me, “When we listen to our students, we remember why we’re here. Their perspective makes us better.” That was the moment I realized our learning experiences aren’t a one-way street. In programs that truly value our voices, the impact extends far beyond the classroom. It reaches families, neighborhoods, and entire communities.

Music & Arts in Action has released their latest online issue, “Music Education Among Refugee and Migrant Youths: Sharing, Belonging, Including.”

The Wits Innovation Centre, in partnership with the Machine Intelligence & Neural Discovery Institute at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, has launched the pilot project AI & African Music, expanding AI datasets and applications into African contexts.

What does it take to turn a young musician’s passion into a meaningful career? For Sistema Cyprus and Orquestra Geração, the answer lies in real, structured opportunity, tailored to young people who are too often overlooked by traditional systems.

Our two organizations have long collaborated on other successful European projects. Building on that experience, and seeing the similar challenges our students face, we teamed up once more to create the Erasmus+ project “InMus: From Youth to Professionalism.”