Arts Advocacy

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

Angelica Cortez, Executive Director, Suzuki Association of the Americas

05-06-2026

In arts education programs, we tend to work with our heads down. Doing our work every day is enough: it takes more time than we have to create our lesson plans, to build healthy organizational infrastructure that is adaptive and responsive, or even to collaborate with the colleagues within our own organizations. As artists and arts leaders, we forget to look up and out. But as various crises combine forces to pull us away from each other, our need for collective work is not something we can afford to have on a backburner. It needs to be a central focus. We need to build strong local networks and to diversify our collaborators. 

We need to connect—with fellow arts organizations, and with organizations we might never consider in our daily work.

Open Call for Europe-Based Creatives: PartArt4OW

 

 

03-04-2026

PartArt4OW has launched its third call for cross-disciplinary projects that help build a sustainable “blue economy” across Europe.

BBC Launches U.K.-Wide Program “Get Singing”

 

 

03-04-2026

Earlier this year, the BBC launched Get Singing, the largest U.K.-wide music education program in a decade.

Violin Included: Reflections on Leadership, Giving, and Growing Up in This Field

Elizabeth Moulthrop, Executive Director, El Sistema USA

03-04-2026

Last week, I found myself in Union City, New Jersey, USA, sitting in a sea of students, violin in hand, playing “Swan Lake” alongside kids, teachers, and my longtime colleague Melina Garcia. I hadn’t come to visit Melina and her program, the United Children’s Music Project simply for the joy of playing with young people; I was there to deliver a donation. I had just closed a similar program in Pisco, Peru—Notes for Change, Inc.—that I founded 15 years ago, and my donation for UCMP consisted of the final funds from that program. I had expected this to be a bittersweet moment; instead, it felt like a full-circle one. But more about that later.

U.S.-Venezuela Relations Impact Music Exchange Programs

 

 

03-04-2026

Musical exchange programs between the U.S. and Venezuela have recently hit an impasse with new travel restrictions between the two countries.

Raffi Releases New Song “ABC Democracy”

 

 

02-04-2026

Beloved singer-songwriter Raffi recently released a new song “ABC Democracy.”

Free Report from Sound Diplomacy: “Why Impact Matters”

11-05-2025

To keep a music program running these days, it’s not enough to just believe in the work. We must be able to demonstrate our impact.

EDITORIAL
The Power of Youth Voice

Ayde Diaz, El Sistema USA 2025 Youth Ambassador; YOLA Torres Student

11-05-2025

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.

EDITORIAL
Stronger Together: An Enduring Leitmotif

Christine Rhomberg, Director of Music for Social Change at the Hilti Foundation, 2013-2025

10-01-2025

More than 12 years ago, during my first visit to the then-fledgling Sinfonía por el Perú program, I met a boy—let’s call him Juan—who stood out from the crowd of children. Not only because his double bass was more than twice his size. It was also his charisma, the joyful enthusiasm with which he played his giant instrument, and, even then, his social skills and his attentive devotion to his fellow musicians at his núcleo in the La Victoria district of Lima, Peru.

13th European Forum on Music Celebrates Musical Diversity

05-07-2025

European musicians and music organizations are invited to attend the 13th annual European Forum on Music in Brussels (June 11–12) under the banner of “Celebrating Musical Diversity.”

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