ESUSA

El Sistema USA (ESUSA) just released their 2024 Census Report, with data from 84 member programs serving over 30,000 young people—a 26% increase since 2022! 

The majority of the population is in Portland, at the northern border, with most everybody else residing along the “I5 Corridor”—Interstate 5, a major north-south highway that runs from Portland to California. BRAVO serves a region at the very northern tip of Portland; JOY serves students in Yamhill County. North Portland is a diverse blue-collar area with shipyards, warehouses, and port terminals; Yamhill County is the heart of Oregon’s famed Willamette Valley, a region known best for its fabulous wineries. But while the county boasts fancy vineyards and tasting rooms, it is also filled with farms and the hardworking farmhands and families.

Just 46 miles apart, our landscapes could not be more different. And yet the work we do could not be more aligned.

Fire Up – The Field is a free five-month program from the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM) in collaboration with LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) and its National Accelerator program.

El Sistema USA is hosting two regional gatherings this year, bringing together program leaders, teaching artists, and students from across the country for community-building and professional development.

Our partners at El Sistema USA recently launched an invaluable resource for students.

El Sistema USA is now accepting applications for their 2025 Youth Ambassador Program.

A year ago, I received a phone call asking me if El Sistema USA® wanted to partner with a commercial mission to space called Polaris Dawn. I was as surprised to get this call as you probably are to hear about it. My first thought was: Why El Sistema USA?

The King School and Project Music just wrapped their Ninth Annual El Sistema Residency, hosting a cluster of east coast–based El Sistema USA programs for a weekend of musical exchange and performance.

A few news hits from Sistema programs around the world:

We do not accept the normalization of school gun violence in our country. As an organization, we commit to fighting against gun violence to ensure safe spaces for students to grow and learn and blossom. We also commit to supporting the field through providing trauma-informed training to teachers, cultivating youth leadership and voice, and advocating for equity in music education on the national level.