The El Sistema USA 2025 West Coast Regional Gathering
Photo: Paul Cressey
How do you make a gathering of 60 teaching artists feel massive? You push past the borders of our growing field.
This was the aim of El Sistema USA at their 2025 West Coast Regional Gathering, hosted by the Beckmen YOLA Center in Inglewood, California on April 11–12. For two days, a room of teaching artists came together to explore themes of community and cultural health.
At events like these, it’s easy to think about the word “community” as the people in the room. But El Sistema USA’s nifty trick was to upend that idea. Rather than celebrate our professional community—the connections we form with colleagues—the ESUSA leadership team explored the ties that bind us to larger, more diverse communities—of families, of activists, of scientists, of lawmakers, and of the folks that lawmakers tend to ignore.
In her welcome remarks, ESUSA Executive Director Liz Moulthrop highlighted this idea while putting forth three essential criteria for member organizations: high musical quality, equity and access, and holistic impact. All three terms echoed throughout the weekend. Guest speaker Dr. Ndindi Kitonga, a Kenyan American educator and community organizer, spoke about the various forms of community cultural value we carry, helping attendees recognize and honor these different forms in our work and lives. Marianne Diaz, Director of Outreach Services at the Southern California Counseling Center, shared ways that biases and privilege can lead us to mislabel someone’s coping strategies—even strengths—as maladaptive. And cognitive scientist Dr. Ivonne Chand O’Neal led a session on “Reclaiming Joy, Justice, and Purpose in Music Education,” complete with pipe cleaner art and healthy breakout discussions.
These insights were all the more compelling coming from speakers who are outside our specific field—or at least took circuitous paths to get there. “I am not a musician or artist,” said Dr. Kitonga at the outset of her session; “I am not a licensed therapist,” said Marianne Diaz. Even local visual artist Helen Lessick qualified her session by saying, “I do not work in the El Sistema movement.”
And the student alumni panel, featuring Mary Elizalde (formerly YOLA), Hugo Tomas (YOLA), and Osi Atikpoh (Tuned-In, The Peabody Institute), were honest about their struggles—with academic difficulties (“I wasn’t a good student,” said Hugo); with committing to an instrument (“I didn’t want to play,” said Mary); and with the expectations they internalized (said Osi: “In [other] areas of my life, I wasn’t trusted to do the bare minimum.”).
It’s worth noting that all three alumni have blossomed into inspiring music educators and thought leaders. Still: “no, not, didn’t, wasn’t…” At a glance, it reads like negative self-talk or even preemptive apology (“sorry! I’m new here!”). But the opposite was true. None of the speakers—not the distinguished session leaders, not the alumni students—identified as a perfect El Sistema ambassador, and their perspectives were all the more useful for it. In highlighting our differences, whether in our sectors or our lived experiences, they underscored a fundamental truth of this movement: we contain multitudes. There isn’t one road in or out; come as you are, lead with empathy, and you’ll help to form a broad coalition of changemakers.
As for the session leader who’s been “inside” our movement the longest, Peabody Institute’s Dan Trahey took us out of our comfort zone and into small groups that collectively composed instrument-free performances about youth voice. It felt like an exhale, a chance to communicate in new, creative ways. The resulting eight distinct performances only underscored the ways our differences strengthen us. (There was also some light Pilates—it was, after all, Los Angeles.)
The gathering was also a chance to show, not tell, about community work—as much a celebration of Inglewood as of our field. Lessick led us on a tour of Inglewood’s many gorgeous public artworks that convey the city’s history; there were tacos for lunch. And, of course, there was lots of beautiful music from the YOLA’s Youth and Children’s Orchestras under conductor Tammy Yi and Artistic Administrator Gaudy Sánchez. “Repertoire is identity,” Yi told us. “And we want our repertoire to embody identity, not represent it.” As attendees stood up and danced to the Youth Orchestra’s bouncing “Mariachi Medley,” we knew that the young players were so energized to perform their music—even on a Saturday morning—because it felt like a piece of themselves.
All together, ESUSA’s programming made for a powerful weekend. And, thanks to the smaller attendance inherent to a “regional” gathering, attendees were able to be present without worrying about missing a session, a conversation, or an opportunity. Of course, there was talk of how especially important it felt to be together, as the US government continues its crusade against all of the ideals our field represents. But there was also a quieter, more crackling relief in observing authentic community-building through the YOLA prism.
Embody, don’t represent. It’s a subtle but important distinction. The West Coast Regional Gathering felt like a breakthrough in our pursuit of that goal, a chance to (literally) look out, rather than in. As Marianne Diaz said, “Always be in relationship with the people you work with…[and] move from your head back to your heart.”
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