Community Building

As I pen this, I find myself looking through some of the session schedules of prominent convenings in our field over the course of the next several months. Many of these gatherings have their anchored purpose clarified and grounded—and, on paper, this is truly inspiring! However, it’s unfortunate to see that many of the topics are the same as those we discussed two, three, or four seasons ago. We continue to address the same problems, instead of new, compounded issues that we all must rally around, to course-correct.

Ron Davis Alvarez, Director of The Dream Orchestra in Gothenburg, Sweden, was nominated as one of the five finalists in the 2024 CNN “Heroes” contest sponsored by the United States-based multinational Cable News Network (CNN). The contest features “inspiring people who have found unique ways to help others,” and aims to elevate awareness of inspirational work by people around the world.

The Ensemble Executive Editor Patrick Scafidi recently interviewed Ron via email.

When I was growing up in Budapest, Hungary, I had the privilege of learning to play music through the pedagogy of Zoltan Kodály, the famous 20th century Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music educator, linguist, and philosopher. 

Thanks to Kodály, our small country has a well-built school music system, which allows students to learn music theory from a young age and to experience active music-making.

In a city like Mumbai, India’s financial capital, 300 out of the 400 public schools do not have a designated art teacher. Many schools rely on academic subject teachers to handle “art classes,” despite their lack of formal training or experience. While working in rural and remote regions, we realized that the situation worsened outside of Mumbai, reflecting a nationwide trend that affects over 250 million children in government and low-income private schools. Recognizing that hiring specialized art teachers was not feasible for many schools, we developed the “Art for Educator” (AFE) program to empower existing teachers as facilitators of visual arts and SEL.

This past July, the warmth of the Portuguese summer and the backdrop of the Lisbon sea welcomed a diverse group of teachers and young musicians from social action music programs across more than ten countries. Amidst varied accents and curious glances, a shared energy became palpable—the excitement of face to face meetings among people who had been able to interact with one another only virtually during their four months of preparation. There was also the shared enthusiasm of people doing what they love most: teaching and making music together.

For the last eight years, I’ve coached violinists for the YOLA National Festival. Each summer, it is a remarkable thing to walk into the first sectional on the first day and witness an exceptional level of preparation from 18 violinists who, for the most part, don’t know each other and have never played together—a group of students that have made a commitment to each other before even meeting one another. This is what defines the YOLA National Festival: the dedication and integrity of all participants, a spirit that lives in the YNF students and also in the staff and the incredible faculty who return each summer. It is a special and profoundly devoted community, something I have not witnessed elsewhere.

We know how hard it is to obtain funding for the work you do, so we’re eager to share two grant opportunities that support community-building and international cultural-exchange initiatives.