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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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U.S. Programs Are Approaching ‘The Middle’ of Their Movement. Now What?

Christopher Schroeder, Executive Director, Boston Music Project

07-08-2026

There are seasons in any movement. The beginning, that electric moment when a new idea catches fire, is unforgettable. So is the end, when a movement gains a permanent foothold in society. But the middle—the developing stage—is different. The middle is where the path is no longer clear, where the just cause and the strategies for seeing it through are both tested. It’s my impression that, in many places of the world, El Sistema-inspired programs find themselves in that adolescent stage.

These growing years are critical to our future as a movement—just as the adolescent years are critical to our students’ growth. Here are a few discoveries being made by U.S. programs I’m familiar with, shared with the hope that they resonate with programs around the world.

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.

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.

Expanding the Lullaby Project in Greece

06-03-2026

For nine years, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece—in partnership with El Sistema Greece and New York’s Carnegie Hall—has presented works from The Lullaby Project, in which people with diverse experiences work with composers and songwriters to transform personal stories about relationships with children into original musical works.

Young Composers in Toronto, Canada

06-03-2026

Sistema Toronto’s students engaged in a term-long composition project with award-winning composer Aaron Manswell and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale (NDC).

Playlists from Carnegie Hall Corrections Program

05-06-2026

Carnegie Hall celebrates 15 years of its Musical Connections program with Sing Sing Voices, a new collection of video playlists featuring original music created by participants and alumni at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison.

New Report Measures Long-Term Impact of Youth Community Arts Programs

 

 

04-01-2026

A new report from The Wallace Foundation, “Creative Expression, Caring Relationships, and Career Pathways: A Guide to Youth Outcomes in Community Arts Programs,” identifies the long-term benefits of these programs.

EDITORIAL

A Space to Be: What One Classroom Taught Me about Art, Listening, and Inclusion

Giovanni Acquilino, 2025 Cohort Member, Global Leaders Institute

09-03-2025

This was a Mus-e session at a public primary school in Genova, Italy, in a room filled with light, nervous energy and about 20 children in motion. Some moved eagerly. Some hung back. Some followed Olivia Giovannini, the teaching artist leading the session. Others wandered in their own rhythm. Throughout it all, something subtle was happening: no one was being excluded. 

Can Young Children Learn to Identify Harmonic Progressions by Ear? Yes, They Can!

Dr. Eric Rasmussen, Chair, Early Childhood Music Department at Peabody Conservatory; educator, author, and researcher

09-03-2025

Unfortunately, many music teachers rely on a notation-first approach, teaching students to read music symbols before they have a strong foundation in listening, singing, and rhythmic chanting. Because we jumped the notation hurdle, often relying on math and puzzle-solving skills in addition to our propensity for learning music, we sometimes assume (incorrectly) that most children will have the same capacities.

The principles of MLT guided my teaching at OrchKids (the El Sistema-inspired program in Baltimore, MD, USA), and the results were extraordinary.

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