June 2020

 
The Ensemble seeks to connect and inform all people who are committed to ensemble music education for youth empowerment and social change.
 
The Ensemble Newsletter

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Watch Performapaloozathon from The People’s Music School

06-02-2020

The People’s Music School has announced its Performapaloozathon (Virtual Edition) on June 21, 3-4 p.m. CDT on Facebook Live. This culminates a series of 22 events across Chicago, a virtual showcase of over 800 students.

A Declaration and Affirmation of Love for Black People

06-02-2020

We encourage you to read this recent declaration from Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain (violinist, composer, teaching artist) in response to acts of racial violence against Black people, and join him in his renewed commitment to support, honor, and celebrate Black people, Black communities, and Black culture.

The Amani Project Partners with U.S. El Sistema Teachers-in-Training

Akhail Gopal and Ziyad Marcus, students in the MAT Program of Longy School of Music of Bard College

06-01-2020

As students in Longy School of Music’s El Sistema-inspired Masters of Arts in Teaching program, we have recently partnered with the Amani Project, a global nonprofit that uses music to serve youth in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Colombia, India, and many more countries around the world. We have found this collaboration to be a crucial reminder of perhaps the most important part of the El Sistema philosophy: social change. While technical excellence is prioritized in standard music pedagogy, El Sistema pushes us to bring musical competency and social justice into convergence. However, despite being in an El Sistema-inspired program, as music teachers we sometimes lose sight of ideals beyond music for music’s sake.

“Future Farming”: A Case for Investing in Top Talent

Jennifer Stumm, concert violist and Founder/Director of Ilumina Brasil

06-01-2020

Ilumina is a musical social equity project, chamber music festival, and touring ensemble based in São Paulo, Brazil. Our talent development model is to invest deep, not wide. Each year, we select 25 young South American musicians with extraordinary potential, ages 18-26, using an extremely selective YouTube audition and written application. Our hypothesis (we call it “future farming”) is that deep investment and extraordinary access for potential leaders will sow the seeds for exponential transformation and good teaching down the social and educational pyramid.

Musicians Without Borders: Rwanda Youth Music

Chris Nicholson, Program Development Manager, Musicians Without Borders

06-01-2020

Those conditions of safety, inclusion, creativity, equality, and quality guide Musicians Without Borders’ methodology for facilitating music-making. Musicians Without Borders uses the power of music for social change and peacebuilding, working in communities around the world affected by war and armed conflict.

“No Matter What, We’re Going to Do a Camp”: Side by Side Goes Digital

Patrick Scafidi, Managing Editor of The Ensemble Newsletters, in conversation with Terese Mörtvik, Communicator, Side by Side, Sweden

06-01-2020

When El Sistema Sweden and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO) began accepting applications for the annual Side by Side by El Sistema international youth music and choir camp, taking place from June 13–16 this year, the coronavirus pandemic had yet to stop the world in its tracks. Applications poured in that first day—roughly 1,000 of them, despite the website shutting down for a few hours due to server issues. That number doubled shortly thereafter as applications continued to pour in from across the world.

Unlearning Musical Bias

Kit Young, Cofounder/Director, Gitameit Music Institute

06-01-2020

During an interview with Creative Generation in March of this year, Sebastian Ruth reminded us that “the core work needs to be within each of us…we always need to be investigating our own assumptions, biases, and motivations to be sure that our work is truly in service of people and their needs.”

Editorial: Pivoting in Response to Community Need

Jason Steinberg, Executive Director, International Sports and Music Project

06-01-2020

COVID-19 is creating unprecedented challenges all over the world. As nonprofit leaders, we must decide how to continue having a meaningful impact while bolstering our organizations to last through COVID-19 and beyond.

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