Classical Music

 
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Students in the League of American Orchestras

10-07-2026

Conservatory and university music students and recent graduates can join the League of American Orchestras for free as a League Student Member, or upgrade to the professional level for $80.

Apply for ESUSA’s Youth Leadership Institute

10-07-2026

El Sistema USA just opened the applications for the 2027-28 Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), a year-long cohort that brings together program leaders and young musicians as co-learners.

Jeunesses Musicales International: The Story Behind the Movement

Matt Clark, Programs and Marketing Director, JM International

10-07-2026

Almost a hundred years ago, as construction began on the majestic Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium, Director Marcel Cuvelier walked through the construction site with a dream. “I always thought of giving concerts for young people,” he later wrote. “When I walked like an insect in that huge frame that would become a concert hall, meeting rooms, offices, halls…I thought about an audience that is demanding, worthy of respect, living: young. I could already hear the shouts and the applause.” 

In-House Instrument Repair

10-07-2026

When the team at Community MusicWorks built the program’s new home, they brought their longtime luthier into their building.

Concerts for Babies Transform Stages Into Communities

Paulo Lameiro, Founder and Artistic Director, Concerts for Babies

09-02-2026

In my small Portuguese village of Pousos, between the giant waves of Nazaré and the Shrine of Fátima, we had a community band. I joined at age 8, playing flugelhorn. I’m forever grateful for this decision, which launched a life in music. But it wasn’t until years later, when I served as the director of several conservatories, that I began asking why it took so long to get started.

Reclaiming Music Silenced by the Nazi Regime

07-08-2026

The contemporary classical music organization Donemus has a leading role in the Forbidden Music Regained project, which is “dedicated to rediscovering and reviving the musical works of composers whose voices were silenced during the Nazi regime.”

EDITORIAL
Snapshots of the Work Tell the Story of Our Impact

Camille Delaney-McNeil, Vice President, Learning, Los Angeles Philharmonic, California, USA

07-08-2026

Every other week this season, I wrote updates to my Los Angeles Philharmonic colleagues—a small, internal note meant to keep our broader institution abreast of what the Learning Department was up to. On the surface, it could be viewed as mundane: a calendar snapshot, a few highlights, the ever-important statistics everyone needs. But as I scrolled back through nine months of messages, I realized the depth they carry. These were not only stories about music lessons, concerts, and special events. They were testaments to the impact of connection built across programs, networks, and industries.

Suggested Reading: The Heart of Teacher-Student Relationship

07-08-2026

The student-teacher relationship in classical music conservatories is unlike almost any other.

In Overlooked Spaces, Art and Dignity Flourish

David Norville, Director of Development and Communications, Project: Music Heals Us

07-08-2026

In the winter of 2013, Project: Music Heals Us Founder Molly Carr shattered a glass bowl into her left hand on the eve of her concert tour, halting her performing career. In the months that followed, she enrolled in a nursing aide course through the American Red Cross and was assigned to work with Ruth, a late-stage Alzheimer’s patient who, staff warned her, hadn’t spoken in years. The advice she received was practical: get in, get the job done, harden yourself to the screams, and get out.

She knew that the care and attention all people need required something more. So she sat down, held Ruth’s hand in silence, and Ruth, the woman who had not spoken in years, turned and began speaking in complete sentences.

Molly came back every day of that residency. On the last day, she promised Ruth that she would return, and bring her viola next time.

NEC Creates Free Music-Learning Game

07-08-2026

The New England Conservatory has produced a free new music game application, NADIA.

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