youth development

 
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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Apply for ESUSA’s Youth Leadership Institute

10-07-2026

El Sistema USA just opened the applications for the 2027-28 Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), a year-long cohort that brings together program leaders and young musicians as co-learners.

Creative Economy Career Pathways for Youth

10-07-2026

The Creative Economy Pathways Virtual Town Hall Series, hosted by Creating Abundance Collaborative, explores how Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations open career pathways through arts-based experiences and youth leadership.

EDITORIAL
When an Instrument Case Means ‘Don’t Shoot’: Symbolic Recognition in Medellín

Nathaly Ossa Alzate, strategic arts management and social impact consultant

10-07-2026

In Nancy Fraser’s framework, social justice requires both redistribution (economic resources) and recognition (cultural and symbolic status). Symbolic recognition is the validation of one’s identity, dignity, and self-worth within a broader socio-cultural context. And in 1990s Medellín—our time—young people faced material deprivation and severe symbolic misrecognition, viewed solely through the lens of urban violence, stigma, and invisibility. 

Global Focus on Youth Creativity

10-07-2026

The Global Extended Learning and Youth Development Association (GELYDA) has produced a special double issue of their magazine Extensions, themed entirely around Creative Youth Development (CYD).

EDITORIAL
A Question We Could Not Answer

Faly Ranaivoson, Founder, Choir Orchestra Loharano (COL)

09-02-2026

One of our longest-standing members asked a question at a meeting this year that I still cannot answer well. He had rehearsed four or five pieces for our concert last December. On the afternoon itself, he participated in playing only one of them. He wanted to know how that had come about. He put his question to everyone in the room.

GUEST PERSPECTIVE
Why Willing Volunteers Still Don’t Show Up: How youth music programs can turn goodwill into support

Kathleen Staten, Founder, Your MBA Friend Consulting

09-02-2026

Last month, my daughter’s choir director needed parents to take tickets to the year-end concert. I had been a choir singer and director myself, so I know the invisible work it takes to put students on a stage. When the request came, I wanted to be the kind of parent who showed up.

Then, my week got overwhelming. By the time the concert arrived, I was no longer deciding between helping and not helping. I was deciding which responsibility would boil over first if I took my attention off it.

In Uganda, Music Unearths the Questions That Heal Us

Bernard Molho Bwambale, Founder and Executive Director, Usanii Village Africa

09-02-2026

HEAL grew out of Usanii Village Africa‘s previous work with young people, including more than 50 girls and boys whose experiences helped shape the program. Since 2021, Usanii Village Africa has worked to empower young people across Uganda through the arts. In designing HEAL, we wanted to explore how the arts could engage young people in uncomfortable conversations, helping them develop leadership and communication skills while exploring adolescent health and gender equality.

U.S. Programs Are Approaching ‘The Middle’ of Their Movement. Now What?

Christopher Schroeder, Executive Director, Boston Music Project

07-08-2026

There are seasons in any movement. The beginning, that electric moment when a new idea catches fire, is unforgettable. So is the end, when a movement gains a permanent foothold in society. But the middle—the developing stage—is different. The middle is where the path is no longer clear, where the just cause and the strategies for seeing it through are both tested. It’s my impression that, in many places of the world, El Sistema-inspired programs find themselves in that adolescent stage.

These growing years are critical to our future as a movement—just as the adolescent years are critical to our students’ growth. Here are a few discoveries being made by U.S. programs I’m familiar with, shared with the hope that they resonate with programs around the world.

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.

Grants for Underserved Communities Across the Globe

07-08-2026

The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Foundation’s Global Grants Program funds a diverse range of charitable projects benefiting underserved communities, and especially young people, worldwide.

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