Social Change

 
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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Building a Culture of Artivism Across Europe

Sevi Matsakidou, Educational, Research, and Advocacy Manager, El Sistema Greece

07-08-2026

Like many organizations across Europe, El Sistema Greece draws part of its support from European Union programs. While our work has always focused on music and social change, we’ve recently partnered with organizations beyond the music sector to explore something broader: “artivism” across different art forms. This collaboration led to the launch of a new project, co-funded with the EU and dedicated to empowering young people, especially those with fewer opportunities.

EDITORIAL
Snapshots of the Work Tell the Story of Our Impact

Camille Delaney-McNeil, Vice President, Learning, Los Angeles Philharmonic, California, USA

07-08-2026

Every other week this season, I wrote updates to my Los Angeles Philharmonic colleagues—a small, internal note meant to keep our broader institution abreast of what the Learning Department was up to. On the surface, it could be viewed as mundane: a calendar snapshot, a few highlights, the ever-important statistics everyone needs. But as I scrolled back through nine months of messages, I realized the depth they carry. These were not only stories about music lessons, concerts, and special events. They were testaments to the impact of connection built across programs, networks, and industries.

A Virtual Community for Those Working in Conflict Situations

07-08-2026

Impact Arts has launched Home of Hope, an international WhatsApp community with thematic-interest groups that connects artists, cultural workers, researchers, community leaders, and peacebuilders who work in situations of conflict and complex societal challenges.

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.

Reaching Across Continents to Help Children Make Music

Jef Neve, Belgian classical and jazz pianist and composer

07-08-2026

About 15 years ago, when I was on tour in Africa, I was lucky enough to meet the late Bob Collymore, Founder/CEO of Safaricom Kenya and one of the most inspiring people on the planet. I performed at the Safaricom headquarters for all the employees; Bob was immediately enthusiastic about bringing more jazz to Nairobi, and he decided to launch the Safaricom International Jazz Festival. He organized the festival setup, and I helped him with the programming.

Invitation to Join Music Inclusion Hub

06-03-2026

The new Music Inclusion Hub (MIH) is a one-stop resource center that provides access to racial- and gender-inclusion educational materials for students of all grade levels, from educational videos and interactive composer databases to curricula and original student arrangements.

EDITORIAL
The Stories We’re Speaking Into

Dr. Tasha Golden, singer-songwriter and behavioral scientist

04-01-2026

Across the field of music for social impact, a lot of energy goes toward communication: Tell your story. Build your evidence base. Find the right combination of data and narrative, and you’ll finally get the support or decisions you’re seeking.

I work across sectors on exactly these goals: helping organizations design research studies that reflect their unique approaches and articulate their impact in ways that actually land. So I get it: refining communication is valuable work.

But it’s not the full picture. And our failure to see that full picture keeps us from igniting the changes we value. 

Re-birth: 18 Years of Music, Meaning, and Maturing

Elizabeth Njoroge, Founder and Executive Director, Art of Music Foundation

03-04-2026

Many of the students we began with, back in 2006, are the first in their families to finish school, to attend university, and to build careers. The truly amazing part is that now, as young adults, their dream is not to escape. Their dream is to return. They come back to their communities—with purpose, compassion, and determination. More often than not, they come back to Ghetto Classics as teachers. Most of our current 42 teachers once sat where our students now sit. The learners have become leaders.

Which means, of course, that the program no longer “belongs” to me.

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.

Arts Communities Drive Manchester Forward

Sam Davies, Founder, The Untold Orchestra; Alumnus, Global Leaders Institute

12-03-2025

“We do things differently.” That’s the motto of Manchester, England—and if you’re walking through the city, it doesn’t take long to see that it prides itself on its innovation and creativity. I’ve been fortunate to spend my 20s here, learning from the legacies of changemakers both past and present. So many of the city’s most impactful figures have been—and still are—artists working directly with communities.

Inspired by the people, creatives, and communities around me, I spent the second half of my 13 years in Manchester founding The Untold Orchestra, a “non-classical” collaborative orchestra that centers community engagement. But this piece isn’t about Untold. It’s about an Art City—that is, a place where arts interventions are prioritized and supported by the people who live there, and then rewarded with community, creativity, and positive social change.

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