The World Ensemble
Dear Subscriber,

Right now, young people everywhere are inspiring us with their passion and commitment to fight for a better, more just world. This June Resource Basket likely finds you pondering ways to support and strengthen that fight. You will find some here, as well as plenty of other ways to engage your communities in this time of virtual learning.

For a comprehensive list of COVID-19 resources, please visit the World Ensemble website. And if you have a few minutes, please take our survey to help us more effectively serve the field.

Thanks for reading, and stay safe,

The WE Team

Global Leaders: Creative Workshop Series

Continuing its expanded contributions to a wide music-for-social-change community, the Global Leaders Program launches a new kind of resource for the field, The Community Workshop Series: Creative Engagement Sessions with Global Field Partners. These 2020 Cohort-led interactive distance-based classes and workshops have been developed to respond to the evolving needs of GLP Fieldwork Partners in communities on the ground of more than 40 countries. There is not a fixed schedule of open enrollment sessions, but each is created in response to requests by institutions—each organization "hosts" the workshop and is able to invite its whole community or beneficiaries to attend. This series includes workshops on topics like: Creative Peace Building Through Music (Janielle Beh, Australia & Afghanistan); Conducting in the COVID World (Kevin Cameron, Australia); Digital Endeavors for Arts Organizations in the COVID Age & Violin Masterclass (Dasha Gilmore, U.S.); Mental Health & Music (Chiaki Nishikawa, Japan & Germany); Cello Masterclass; Practicing Tips for Cellists; Workshop for Music Teachers (Magdalena Sas, Poland). For information about how to access the webinars, or to organize a workshop for your community music institution, please contact Santiago Hernandez with your name, institution, role in the institution, location, short description of the organization, and logo to find out options. Also, visit globalleadersprogram.com/resources . 

Mass Poor People's Assembly &
Moral March on Washington: A Digital Gathering
Protesters in the U.S. are rising in record numbers to demand changes in racist policing, governmental, and institutional policies; we are deeply gratified to see colleagues around the world take to the streets in support. Of course, such abuses of power appear in almost all countries, and this global demand for change in social norms that impact our students feels more powerful than anything in memory. Those in music-for-social-change programs have been particularly active, protesting in support of their students, their communities, and their futures. On June 20, there will be a Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington, and it will include digital participation. It aspires to be the largest digital gathering in U.S. history of poor and low-wealth people, moral and religious leaders, advocates, artists, and people of conscience—and with the participation of global colleagues, perhaps the largest demonstration in human history. On June 20, the 140 million poor and low-income people across the U.S. will be heard. Here is the digital demonstration toolkit.

Share Your Work through the
WAAE's Virtual Space

Without public performances or mass gatherings, it can be difficult to share the outcomes of recent creative community projects. The World Alliance for Arts Education (WAAE), a free multidisciplinary advocacy organization committed to arts advancement, has created a virtual platform to showcase projects from around the world—and they need you. Their Virtual Space is an opportunity to connect your work to a larger, global community of educators and artists. Check out the submission guidelines here.
Make Music Day, June 21
All of us are craving an extra dose of connection these days, especially the ensemble work that sustains and inspires us. Here is some good news: Whether or not you are in quarantine, Make Music Day is still taking place on June 21. Connect with others in your area via the Make Music website and see how your local chapter is adapting to social distancing. If you don’t see your city listed, create a chapter of your own and get started. Make Music Day began 38 years ago in France and has now become an official national holiday— Fête de la Musique—in which almost 8% of the country has participated. You can join from one of the 120+ countries with chapters, or start your own. Don’t miss a chance to celebrate the joy of making music with perfect strangers.

Two Resources for Rethinking Race

As the world turns out to protest racial injustice, we must all recognize that work toward equality begins within. This podcast from Education Dive, titled “ Understanding Unconscious Bias in Teaching," explores how our biases impact our teaching practices and classrooms as well as how educators can take conscious action to deepen their empathy.

" How to Be an Antiracist Educator" is an article by educator/scholar Dena Simmons in ASCD's (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) “Education Update” last October. She provides five strategies that music-for-social-change teaching artists can use to deepen their educational impact against racism. As the author Ibram X. Kendi writes in his book How to Be an Antiracist, "The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'anti-racist.'" This article will help you go deeper.
European Social Catalyst Fund Extends Deadline
The European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF) has extended its call for proposals to receive funding and capacity-building support in order to scale proven social service innovations. Applications now close on September 11, 2020. As the ESCF addresses some of Europe’s most pressing social challenges, we wonder if El Sistema programs might be an interesting fit for this funding. Supported initiatives must address social challenges within at least one of the following focus areas, including some that El Sistema programs directly address: poverty and marginalization, migration, gender equality, inequalities, education and training, community development, and the role and place of young people in society. At least six applications will be selected to receive a planning grant of up to €100,000, along with capacity-building support. Eligible applicants include public agencies, private nonprofit agencies, and collaborations involving public and private agencies in EU Member States. Click here to review the criteria and guidelines and begin an application.

Collaborative Learning Community for
Educators in Latin America

Comunidad Atenea is an online collaborative learning community for teachers across Latin America. The free platform (in Spanish), which already has over 9,000 members (not yet many from the arts), gains around 100 teachers a day. The site allows teachers to describe best practices, share their work, and discuss how to improve their students’ educations. There are already over 200 activities available with over 800 implementations, reaching more than 32,000 students in Latin America.
Domestic Music Project from ES Greece
Here are two news items from El Sistema Greece. 1) “Un' Orchestra in Ogni Casa,” an initiative of the Italian cultural organization LiberaMusica, proposes on its Facebook page that “Lately, our homes are our world. We tell stories of children and their homes, where music is a significant daily presence.” If this sounds familiar to you, as it did to El Sistema Greece Artistic Director José Ángel Salazar Marin and teacher Francis Gagliardi, you can follow their lead and encourage your students’ families to send in videos of home music-making. Watch all the videos of this “domestic” music project here.
2) ESG student Sama was selected alongside two other children from organizations in Greece to be featured in UNICEF’s new global flagship #ChildrenUprooted campaign. The young people will be portrayed as video game heroes on a new platform to be launched later this year. The game emphasizes the importance of uprooted and host communities coming together. Sama’s character will be turned into a video game hero, showcasing her story, talents, and dreams, and giving her the opportunity to become an advocate for social integration.

Generation Z Prioritizes Ending Prejudice

It has been inspiring to see young people across the world come out in the thousands to protest against racism. As we all participate in this collective effort for meaningful change, we are reminded that Generation Z is not discovering its views for the first time. The Varkey Foundation took a poll of 20,000 teenagers from 20 countries in 2017, asking them to choose the one factor that would make the greatest difference in uniting people. At 30%, the leading answer was, “An end to prejudice on the grounds of race, religion and gender." "Greater economic equality" was the #2 answer (21%), particularly prioritized among respondents in Asia. It’s interesting to note that few young people worldwide chose either religion or technology as the key factor in uniting people.
SIMM-posium
The 2020 SIMM-posium is still scheduled for 18 and 19 December, 2020, in Brussels, Belgium. This annual international event brings together researchers and practitioners involved in critical research on the Social Impact of Music-Making (SIMM). To allow researchers who can't attend in person to participate, it will be partly held online. The deadline for applications and expressions of interest has been postponed to June 30; please contact Alexandra Gelhay. For further information, click here.

Join the Think Tank on COVID-19 and Teaching Artistry in Disability Communities

Physical distancing requirements pose extra challenges for those who work in disability communities. This month’s ITAC Think Tank, on Tuesday, June 30 at 9 a.m. EDT on Zoom, will explore new ways to be inclusive and accessible. The session is hosted by Tobin Rothlein (former lead Teaching Artist at Lincoln Center), Lisa Sonneborn (Director of Media Arts and Culture for the Institute on Disabilities, Temple University), and Shawn Aleong (community performer and disability rights advocate) and will focus on strategies for adapting, not compromising, our methods to achieve our mission. Come prepared to engage and participate as you build new skills to respond, notice, and listen. This conversation will be recorded, and a transcript will be available on the ITAC website. Email info@itac-collaborative.com to register.

The Ensemble Masthead
MANAGING EDITOR
Patrick Scafidi

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Dr. Ryan Welsh

COFOUNDERS
Tricia Tunstall
Eric Booth

EDITORS-AT-LARGE
Dr. Chrissie D’Alexander
Elsje Kibler-Vermaas
Jacquie McNulty
Rey Ramirez
Monique Van Willingh

ASSISTANT EDITORS
Caroline Campos
Zoe Kumagai
Gabrielle Molina

Thank you for reading! 

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