Sistema Fellows

The El Sistema-inspired field is filled with questions. How could it not be, given its recent and rapid emergence? Our challenge, then, is to find the right questions – the provocative, testing, and ultimately, formative ones. One of the focal investigations of the Sistema Fellows this year was how to... Sistema Fellows Program

The other day I went in to teach a first grade violin class and felt quite distracted – bow holds and the D-A-D song were the last things on my mind. I was instead weighted down by a great sadness. So as class began, I asked them to set their... Sistema Fellows Program

It's been a while since we were all together in the same location! Sistema Fellows Program

Lexington KY – Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras is pleased to announce the creation of the North Limestone MusicWorks, a new El Sistema-inspired program in the North Limestone neighborhood of Lexington, designed in cooperation with the North Limestone Cultural Development Corporation (NoLi CDC). This program will be the first of its... Sistema Fellows Program

The day that Diogo and I performed at the Tamaca nucleo in Venezuela happened to coincide with the very first rehearsal of their “initiation orchestra.” The students, ranging from age 7 to 15, had been playing their instruments for at most two months and for others about fifteen minutes. There... Sistema Fellows Program