Music Education

 
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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The NBYO Had Never Sent a Student to the Royal College of Music. Now They’re Sending Two.

Patrick Scafidi, Executive Editor, The Ensemble

04-01-2026

In its 60 years of existence, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO)—Canada’s first provincial orchestra—has celebrated many a milestone. This year, there’s a new kind of success to celebrate: two of its graduating seniors have been accepted into London’s Royal College of Music. 

The Royal College has never accepted an NBYO player before, let alone two. This is relatively rare for programs that value social-emotional outcomes as much or more than musical ones. But for the students involved, those social-emotional outcomes played a critical role in their matriculation, clarifying the value of a movement that builds arts-and-community pipelines traced back to a player’s earliest years.

In Rhode Island, a Music Center Becomes a Community Haven

Sebastian Ruth, Founder and Artistic Director, Community MusicWorks

04-01-2026

Last weekend, in the U.S. city of Providence, Rhode Island, the renowned pianist Emanuel Ax visited Community MusicWorks for a pair of concerts in collaboration with our students and our professional ensemble in residence. Manny’s visit helped to celebrate our CMW Center, which was only a dream when he first came in 2017.

During Manny’s first visit, one concert took place in a neighborhood taqueria, and another on the basketball court of a nearby community center. In many ways, the concerts last weekend marked the new chapter we find ourselves in, welcoming children, families, musicians, and special guest artists into our purpose-built center.

Fifteen Years After Disaster, a Children’s Music Festival Continues to Rebuild Community in Soma, Japan

Yutaka Kikugawa, Executive Director and Founder, El Sistema Japan

04-01-2026

For me, the festival brought back memories of a cold winter day in December 2011, when I met with Soma City Council officials to explore the possibility of launching Japan’s first El Sistema–inspired program. At that time, children in Soma were still deeply affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear power plant accident. Many had lost family members and friends; many faced widespread stigma and discrimination resulting from radiation contamination across Fukushima Prefecture, including Soma City. I was serving as Chief Coordinator of UNICEF’s post-disaster operations.

From Spark to Flame: A Glance at Fire Up! 2025

Elisabetta Lapadula, Communications Manager, SONG – Sistema Lombardia

04-01-2026

Imagine choosing—on purpose—to stop. To give yourself a moment of attention and ask, without judgment, a simple question: “Why do I do this work?” It’s a small exercise of meditation and self-awareness that we rarely find time for in our noisy daily routine. And yet, in that brief pause, something can appear: a spark that feeds the question, gives it space, and makes it louder.

For me, Fire Up! 2025 in Athens—a four-day teaching artist residency led by the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM)—was that spark. 

Music Learning and Olympic Excellence

 

 

04-01-2026

Many of us were absorbed in watching the extraordinary performances at the Winter Olympics in Italy.

Free Report: Complexity Thinking is Changing Music Education

 

 

03-04-2026

For those interested in theoretical perspectives on music education, a new research report proposes that complexity thinking is changing approaches to music education.

BBC Launches U.K.-Wide Program “Get Singing”

 

 

03-04-2026

Earlier this year, the BBC launched Get Singing, the largest U.K.-wide music education program in a decade.

U.S. Music Education Programs Invited to Join Music Inclusion Hub

 

 

03-04-2026

The Music Inclusion Hub (MIH) invites U.S.-based music education programs to join their online resource center, hosting culturally responsive learning materials for students of all ages.

Violin Included: Reflections on Leadership, Giving, and Growing Up in This Field

Elizabeth Moulthrop, Executive Director, El Sistema USA

03-04-2026

Last week, I found myself in Union City, New Jersey, USA, sitting in a sea of students, violin in hand, playing “Swan Lake” alongside kids, teachers, and my longtime colleague Melina Garcia. I hadn’t come to visit Melina and her program, the United Children’s Music Project simply for the joy of playing with young people; I was there to deliver a donation. I had just closed a similar program in Pisco, Peru—Notes for Change, Inc.—that I founded 15 years ago, and my donation for UCMP consisted of the final funds from that program. I had expected this to be a bittersweet moment; instead, it felt like a full-circle one. But more about that later.

U.S.-Venezuela Relations Impact Music Exchange Programs

 

 

03-04-2026

Musical exchange programs between the U.S. and Venezuela have recently hit an impasse with new travel restrictions between the two countries.

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