Youth Voice

“It gave me great peace of mind to know that there are such capable and inspiring people whom I can turn to when I face problems that I cannot solve on my own.”

This was how one of my peers reflected on our three days together in Milan last August. Her words got to the heart of a question I had been thinking about for some time: 

What keeps a network alive?

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.

When we first designed the Dream Orchestra in 2010, we saw “isolation” as one of the most urgent conditions in children’s lives. At the time, the intensity of college entrance competition had already reached elementary school, and many children were being pushed into highly competitive, lonely environments.

Fifteen years later, children’s lives have not become easier. They remain caught in the competitive trap of the education system while social and economic inequality continues to deepen their vulnerability. Declining physical and mental wellbeing, weakened community ties, and the replacement of direct relationships with media-based activities have also left them increasingly disconnected.

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

As Sistema Ravinia prepared for in-person learning after the pandemic lockdowns, I attended a Zoom meeting with other incoming high school freshmen, most of whom were good friends. A manager asked us, “This is the first time we’ve had high school students in our program. What would you guys like to see happen?”

I’d been missing the presence and perspective of young people in these gatherings dedicated to arts education, young people’s wellbeing, and community health through the arts. When young people were present, it was most often as performers, and occasionally as panelists alongside adults.

Throughout these events, I had been wondering, “How is it that we continue to position young people as objects of conversation, and not the subject?”

An instructor once told me, “When we listen to our students, we remember why we’re here. Their perspective makes us better.” That was the moment I realized our learning experiences aren’t a one-way street. In programs that truly value our voices, the impact extends far beyond the classroom. It reaches families, neighborhoods, and entire communities.

At events like these, it’s easy to think about the word “community” as the people in the room. But ESUSA’s nifty trick was to take us outside. 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.

Growing up, I was taught to suck it up, because your pain isn’t serious until you become an adult. Feelings weren’t a thing, and neither were options. So when I joined a place that preached opposite ideas, I thought I had fallen into a parallel universe.

Several of our Ambassadors had become busy with school, concerts, and auditions, and were unable to attend every meeting. Others had to stay up late at night or get up really early in the morning to participate. We asked ourselves: what if we created our entire composition asynchronously, to make it easier for everyone?