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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
A Question We Could Not Answer

Faly Ranaivoson, Founder, Choir Orchestra Loharano (COL)

09-02-2026

One of our longest-standing members asked a question at a meeting this year that I still cannot answer well. He had rehearsed four or five pieces for our concert last December. On the afternoon itself, he participated in playing only one of them. He wanted to know how that had come about. He put his question to everyone in the room.

GUEST PERSPECTIVE
Why Willing Volunteers Still Don’t Show Up: How youth music programs can turn goodwill into support

Kathleen Staten, Founder, Your MBA Friend Consulting

09-02-2026

Last month, my daughter’s choir director needed parents to take tickets to the year-end concert. I had been a choir singer and director myself, so I know the invisible work it takes to put students on a stage. When the request came, I wanted to be the kind of parent who showed up.

Then, my week got overwhelming. By the time the concert arrived, I was no longer deciding between helping and not helping. I was deciding which responsibility would boil over first if I took my attention off it.

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.

One-Day Choirs

09-02-2026

One-day choirs are growing in popularity.

The Power of Creative Work for Immigrants

09-02-2026

Creative work makes a difference for all of us, but especially for immigrants.

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.

GUEST PERSPECTIVE
When Art and Music Create a Shared Listening Space

Giovanni Acquilino, 2025 Cohort Member, Global Leaders Institute

07-08-2026

What does visual art have to do with listening?

It’s an unusual question—but one that’s well worth exploring, as I discovered recently when I attended Sguardi Paralleli (Parallel Glances) – Art Therapy and Autism: Art as Language, an exhibition held in Alassio, Italy and curated by art therapist Carla Paura.

In South Africa, a Marimba Band Moves with the Music

Thandeka Dlamini, Band Manager, Organizer, and Coach, Goede Hoop Marimba Band

06-03-2026

Since 2014, the Goede Hoop Marimba Band has operated in Boksburg, Gauteng, a small South African town in the smallest South African province. The band started in 2014 at the Goede Hoop Primary School, the hub where all practice takes place, as a way of keeping children out of the streets after school, committing them to something that could positively impact their future, and strengthening their community bonds.

From Program to Public Infrastructure: The Evolution of Dream Arts

Jeehye Suh, CEO, Inculture Consulting (Rep. of Korea); Adjunct Professor, Korea National University of Arts

06-03-2026

When we first designed the Dream Orchestra in 2010, we saw “isolation” as one of the most urgent conditions in children’s lives. At the time, the intensity of college entrance competition had already reached elementary school, and many children were being pushed into highly competitive, lonely environments.

Fifteen years later, children’s lives have not become easier. They remain caught in the competitive trap of the education system while social and economic inequality continues to deepen their vulnerability. Declining physical and mental wellbeing, weakened community ties, and the replacement of direct relationships with media-based activities have also left them increasingly disconnected.

Summer Rock in the Balkans

05-06-2026

Each summer for the past 18 years, Music Connects has brought 60 young people from divided and marginalized communities across the Western Balkans together in Skopje.

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