May 2025

 
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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News & Resources

Agents of Change

Loukia Lazarou, Teaching Artist and Project Manager, Sistema Cyprus

05-07-2025

The idea of hosting volunteers had two purposes: one, the additional staff would be an immense help for our organization, and two, they would provide relatable young role models for our students—especially important for those from vulnerable backgrounds. We wanted to create a structure that nurtures leadership, social responsibility, and cultural exchange, both for the young people in our orchestra and for the volunteers.

The Queen of Paradise Initiative: A Life-Changing Experience in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea

Dane Madrigal, composer, conductor, and music educator

05-07-2025

One of the most memorable experiences from my time in Vanimo was helping the students prepare music for a truly special occasion: the visit, last August, of Pope Francis. With only three weeks to prepare, the students were able to put together both a fully recorded concert for the Holy Father and a few live pieces for his visit to the IVE Fathers in Baro.

The El Sistema USA 2025 West Coast Regional Gathering

Patrick Scafidi, Executive Editor, The Ensemble

05-07-2025

At events like these, it’s easy to think about the word “community” as the people in the room. But El Sistema USA’s nifty trick was to upend that idea. Rather than celebrate our professional community—the connections we form with colleagues—the ESUSA leadership team explored the ties that bind us to larger, more diverse communities—of families, of activists, of scientists, of lawmakers, and of the folks that lawmakers tend to ignore.

EDITORIAL
Forty Years of Radical Inclusion: What We Can Learn from Lavender Light

Eric Williamson, Artistic Director, Lavender Light Choir; Adjunct Professor, New York University Steinhart School; General Music Teacher, P.S. 32 in Brooklyn, NY, USA

05-07-2025

When you hear the phrase “social change through music,” what comes to mind? For many in our field, it means ensembles of student musicians learning to play and sing together.

Sometimes, though, it can mean people of all ages coming together and forging new communities of belonging through music. That’s the nature of my organization: Lavender Light, in New York City.

Between Tradition and Innovation: Reimagining Teacher Training at NEOJIBA

José Henrique de Campos, Educational Director, NEOJIBA

05-07-2025

When trying to renew an initiative that has existed for almost a decade, our great challenge is to find that precise balance between valuing tradition and proposing something new. At NEOJIBA State Nuclei for Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Bahia, this balance is fundamental to our continuous search for improvement—praising what already works, recognizing what can be improved, and having the tranquility to suggest something innovative without losing the essence of an idea.

It was in this spirit that in 2023, on a sunny afternoon during Bahia’s “eternal summer,” we began to redesign PROCEC, our collective teacher training program.

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