El Sistema

 
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
Universal Design for Learning: A Natural Fit for El Sistema-inspired Programs

Graciela Briceno, teaching artist and Foreign Service Officer, Accra, Ghana

10-02-2024

Imagine that you are walking up a staircase that leads to a school entrance, and you notice a sign that says, “ramp located at the back door.” Okay, so the sign and the ramp make the building technically accessible—but a person who can’t use stairs has to go all the way to the back of the building, locate the ramp, and hope that the door is open.

What if, instead of a staircase in front and a separate ramp in back, the architect had created a walkway that incorporates stairs and ramps all in one place?

This is the foundational metaphor of Universal Design for Learning, or UDL.

Vánimo Children’s Orchestra Performs for Pope Francis

10-02-2024

National Seminario Ravinia: Orchestras For All

Isaac Sinnett, Senior Associate Director, Ravinia Reach Teach Play

09-04-2024

On the evening of July 10, the Ravinia Festival’s historic Pavilion stage glowed with the combined talents of the 130 students of National Seminario Ravinia. It was the final night of the 2024 Seminario, just in its second year. Students aged 11–18 from 43 El Sistema-inspired organizations around the world—including those from 17 U.S. states, Mexico, Canada, Greece, and Sweden—had gathered for four days of intensive orchestral training and mentorship from members of the Seminario Orchestra Partner, the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F). For many of the students, it was their first time having such an experience. 

World Orchestra Week at Carnegie Hall

James Ross, Orchestra Director, NYO-USA and NYO2-USA; Music Director, Alexandria Symphony, VA, USA; Director of Orchestral Studies, Curtis Institute of Music

09-04-2024

Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week festival in August was a week of one “WOW!” after another, as seven youth orchestras from five different continents joined forces in and around Carnegie Hall to play for and with each other, to share singular musical works and ethos from their countries, and to show us all what the next generation’s Wishes for Our World might be.

EDITORIAL
Methods Change, but Community Drives Our Field Forward

Christine Taylor Conda, Director, REACH*TEACH*PLAY Education Programs at Ravinia Festival

07-10-2024

If music is the universal language that brings people together, one would assume that this truth would hold for music education as well. But often, unfortunately, our field can pull people apart into seemingly oppositional camps. Over the course of my career as an arts education leader, I have witnessed many of these schisms, as well as their resolutions. I’d like to share three such dichotomies here.

What is music education for?

Side by Side Celebrates Ten Years of Music with New Documentary

 

 

06-05-2024

“As the world falls apart, these children unite it through music.” These are the opening remarks from El Sistema maestro Gustavo Dudamel in Side by Side’s new documentary, celebrating over ten years of collective music-making.

Expanding Musical Opportunities for Children

Yutaka Kikugawa, Founder and Executive Director, El Sistema Japan

05-01-2024

It’s been a decade since we launched the first El Sistema–inspired program in Japan, in the city of Soma, Fukushima Province. Our goal was to offer support, community, and dignity to the children affected by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident. Our vision statement at that time was: “Community regenerated by children with life skills through music.”

Since then, we’ve learned a great deal about the needs of the children we serve and the primary outcomes we want to be aiming at. Accordingly, we’ve reshaped the vision statement as follows: “Collaborative society where everyone can be free and creative.”

El Sistema Toronto Youth Sing Their Truth

06-21-2023

El Sistema Toronto students teamed up with award-winning Indigenous hip hop artist Cody Coyote and Juno-nominated Toronto rapper Saukrates to write and record “WAY: We Are Young,” a song that captures both the hopefulness and vulnerability of young people who are coming of age in a rapidly changing world.

New Music and Arts in Action Issue Looks Back to Move Forward

06-21-2023

We always champion the social impact of orchestral programs serving youth around the world, and part of that advocacy is a need to self-reflect and revisit our ideas with fresh eyes. To that end, the latest issue of Music and Arts in Action is worth a read.

From Music Rooms to Policy Meetings: Taking Lessons from a Life in Music

Axelle Miel, former Cohort Leader, Ensemble Ambassadors

06-07-2023

In my first Ensemble editorial, I wrote about how opportunities within classical music allowed me to bypass barriers caused by economic inequality in the Philippines. But this unequal distribution of resources still bothers me today, which is why I’m studying political science and hoping to go into policy research after graduation.

With just one year to go at college, I’ve been reflecting on the ways my musical training has influenced how I approach the social sciences. 

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