Equity in the Arts

 
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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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.

Suggested Reading: To Be Young, Gifted and Black

06-04-2025

To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a new book by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, offers an intimate look at how her children navigated their professional path into the classical music world while exploring their cultural, racial, and national identities.

Transforming Young Lives Through Music: Lessons from Five Years of Impact in Creative Youth Development

Alexis Jackson, Data Analysis Officer, The Lewis Prize for Music

03-05-2025

Music has the power to transform lives, strengthen communities, and challenge the systems that shape them—but what does that transformative process actually look like? For the past five years, The Lewis Prize for Music (TLPM) has been addressing this question by supporting organizations that harness music’s power to uplift and empower young people. 

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