Arts Education

 
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
The Stories We’re Speaking Into

Dr. Tasha Golden, singer-songwriter and behavioral scientist

04-01-2026

Across the field of music for social impact, a lot of energy goes toward communication: Tell your story. Build your evidence base. Find the right combination of data and narrative, and you’ll finally get the support or decisions you’re seeking.

I work across sectors on exactly these goals: helping organizations design research studies that reflect their unique approaches and articulate their impact in ways that actually land. So I get it: refining communication is valuable work.

But it’s not the full picture. And our failure to see that full picture keeps us from igniting the changes we value. 

New Grant Program from El Sistema USA

 

 

04-01-2026

El Sistema USA is launching Summer Now!, a new grant initiative for accelerated learning in summer programming.

Tickets (and Slots) Still Available for Side by Side Music Camp

 

 

04-01-2026

The gigantic music camp Side by Side 2026, happening June 12–17 and hosted by Sweden’s Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, is now selling a limited number of tickets for its Festival and Closing Concerts this summer.

EDITORIAL
Playing in the Same Key: Aligning Purpose and Practice for Students

Fiona Cunningham, Director, Academy for Impact through Music

03-04-2026

“What’s the biggest thing keeping you up at night, as a leader or as a teaching artist?”

When Nikoletta Polydorou, founder of Sistema Cyprus, recently posed this question to music-for-social-action leaders and teaching artists across different countries and contexts, one concern surfaced repeatedly: when a program’s purpose isn’t clear, and collectively owned, the learning is less focused and effective.

U.S. Music Education Programs Invited to Join Music Inclusion Hub

 

 

03-04-2026

The Music Inclusion Hub (MIH) invites U.S.-based music education programs to join their online resource center, hosting culturally responsive learning materials for students of all ages.

Re-birth: 18 Years of Music, Meaning, and Maturing

Elizabeth Njoroge, Founder and Executive Director, Art of Music Foundation

03-04-2026

Many of the students we began with, back in 2006, are the first in their families to finish school, to attend university, and to build careers. The truly amazing part is that now, as young adults, their dream is not to escape. Their dream is to return. They come back to their communities—with purpose, compassion, and determination. More often than not, they come back to Ghetto Classics as teachers. Most of our current 42 teachers once sat where our students now sit. The learners have become leaders.

Which means, of course, that the program no longer “belongs” to me.

Genesis Inspiration Foundation Arts Education Grants for U.S. Nonprofits

12-03-2025

The Genesis Inspiration Foundation funds U.S. nonprofit programs that improve access to arts education for children, both in and out of the classroom.

EDITORIAL
Young People Are Speaking To Us. Are We Close Enough to Hear Them?

Dalouge Smith, Founder and Executive Director, The Creating Abundance Collaborative; Co-founder and CEO, The Lewis Prize, 2018–2024

12-03-2025

I’d been missing the presence and perspective of young people in these gatherings dedicated to arts education, young people’s wellbeing, and community health through the arts. When young people were present, it was most often as performers, and occasionally as panelists alongside adults.

Throughout these events, I had been wondering, “How is it that we continue to position young people as objects of conversation, and not the subject?”

RESEO Offers Free Fundraising Webinar

11-05-2025

The European Network for Opera, Music and Dance Education (RESEO) will host a free webinar on November 17 with specific guidance for arts education organizations looking to apply to major European funding programs.

300 Years of Classical Music in 18 Minutes

09-03-2025

Classical violinist Joshua Bell takes his audience through 300 years of classical music in his recent TED Talk.

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