The BEAUTIFUL folks from TED wrote us an e-mail and asked us to answer a couple of questions that will go up on their blog about our experiences in the Abreu Fellows program so far. They wanted us to answer these questions candidly and my answers simply reflect what I feel so far. So to preserve the candid feeling, please excuse my typos. Since the BEAUTIFUL folks from TED will put up highlights of all ten of our answers, I thought posting my responses would be a great way to share with you how our first ten weeks have gone so far:
How has this semester affected you? Has it changed or solidified any of your ideas, thoughts, plans and why?
The semester has been full of hope and possibilities for the future of the music education in the United States and beyond. The fellowship has solidified my passion for bringing music education to children (especially those in need), help to focus my thoughts about what an ideal music program could look like, and directed those thoughts into theories of action that I am working to implement in Reading and Philadelphia, PA, Atlanta, GA and Meru, KENYA.
Who has been your favorite guest lecturer over the semester? Why?
Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts of the Doris Duke Foundation, was simultaneously the most depressing and inspirational lecturer of the semester. He talked to us about the state of the arts in the United States with shocking statistics that would make any arts leader run to another profession. He also shared his four major issues that he felt was eroding our effectiveness with the arts: 1) Non-profit organizations are simply not "worth it", 2) Impending generational change of leadership will answer if these organizations can embrace change, 3) Audience erosion, 4) Impact of technology. On the flip side, he feels that the arts are currently in a renaissance period as people have 24/7 access to arts in various forms. He is impressed with El Sistema and feels that we can have a exponential impact on how our country views music. He encouraged us to have our day-to-day mission defined, our vision of the future solid and life in what we think our core values are.
What do you plan to do during your break?
I will spend two weeks in the Philadelphia region finishing proposals for nucleos that will open in Philly and Reading, PA, meeting with the entire Reading musical community to put the proposal into an action plan, and working with the chosen site in Philly to plan their nucleo. I will also spend three days in Atlanta following up with contacts that I made during my 5-day trip this month to present at TEDx Peachtree and I will spend 11 days throughout four cities in Germany with my girlfriend trying not to think about my work.
What are you most looking forward to about your time in Venezuela? What are you hoping to experience while there?
I am simply looking forward being immersed in what they do for two months. I want to experience life as the kids, teachers, administrators and Abreu see it in El Sistema.
What's one thing you hope to accomplish by spreading the El Sistema program? What impact do you see it having on young lives and/or communities in the US?
I want to get communities fired up about life and possibilities by spreading the "El Sistema" program. If music can change a person on an individual basis, I know that music can change a community. If music can change a community, I know it can change a city. If music can change a city, I know it can change a state... and you know the rest. In the cities I bring El Sistema models to, I want to see "El Sistema USA" bumper-stickers on cars, "El Sistema USA" banners in windows, signs on the road that mention their community is protected by "El Sistema USA" and most importantly, an unstoppable force of advocacy for the immensely important work we do as music educators and performers.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
TEDx Peachtree: "What if..."
I had a great time at TEDx Peachtree and a chance to meet many people that are excited about the el Sistema USA movement. First of all, I realized how powerful Jose Abreu's TED Prize video is and the amount of interest that stirred in the room following my talk. There was a break immediately following my talk and I was approached by media and marketing specialist, accountants, a music producer, and all types of consultants. Each person wanted to know more about what was planned and what possibilities existed for the future. Many people offered to volunteer their talents and help in anyway they could.
I am humbled to be able to share the stage with so many amazing people at TEDx Peachtree. I was also impressed with how organized the event was and the beautiful downtown Atlanta location at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I was pretty nervous as the previous speaker made his concluding thought. Al Myers, the TEDx Peachtree Licensee, and a huge supporter of the el Sistema Atlanta initiative, introduced a short movie produced by TED about el Sistema and the el Sistema USA movement.
I have seen the movie several times and I could feel the hair raise on my neck and goosebumps form on my arm as I felt the room stop breathing. Everyone was captivated by the message of the movie. The movie got me fired up and the confidence came back to me as I began my talk about el Sistema:
I am humbled to be able to share the stage with so many amazing people at TEDx Peachtree. I was also impressed with how organized the event was and the beautiful downtown Atlanta location at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I was pretty nervous as the previous speaker made his concluding thought. Al Myers, the TEDx Peachtree Licensee, and a huge supporter of the el Sistema Atlanta initiative, introduced a short movie produced by TED about el Sistema and the el Sistema USA movement.
I have seen the movie several times and I could feel the hair raise on my neck and goosebumps form on my arm as I felt the room stop breathing. Everyone was captivated by the message of the movie. The movie got me fired up and the confidence came back to me as I began my talk about el Sistema:
"El Sistema is more than a music program. It's an example of real life. To play or sing together means to intimately coexist towards harmony, self-esteem, excellence, structure and forging practical skills and values that are needed today. These skills are essential for professional success and personal fulfillment. Honestly, these skills determines who gets ahead and who doesn't.
As Abreu mentioned in the movie, in the personal circle, music develops the intellectual and emotional side into fully developing one's personality. Those traits of leadership, posing and solving problems, commitment, creativity, dedication, responsibility, and achieving collective goals are encouraged through music education.
We need more left brain thinkers like Dr. Jill Bolton Taylor mentioned in her TED talk about studying her own stroke as it happened and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery. She mentioned experiencing nirvana the morning of the stroke as she slipped in and out of mental consciousness. I have experienced this same sense of nirvana she described through the musical process. These experiences and traits give a kid an identity and creates possibilities for them to embrace new dreams and goals.
In the circle of the family, while kids seek to better themselves on an instrument, those skills will transfer to other parts of their life. They will seek ways to make their friendships, relationships, families, churches, schools, and communities better.
In the circle of the community, music creates unity, a space for culture and new meaning. The moment they play their first note, they are on a new trajectory of building a new life.
Let me share two secrets with you:
1) The infrastructure of El Sistema is already in Atlanta. We have great teachers and performers in our communities and world class musicians and musical organizations in every musical genre.
2) There is no such thing as music disability. There is only music possibility within every child.
I am joined by a talented team and I am fired up about the possibilities as we identify the will within the city to develop el Sistema here.
'What if...'
Thank You."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
El Sistema is Already Here. Build Relationships. Build Partnerships.
The Abreu Fellows have spent the past three weeks visiting various music programs in Boston and Baltimore. My previous post highlighted our trip to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's El Sistema-inspired program, OrchKids, and the past two weeks have been spent visiting a half dozen programs in Boston (A big thank you to my colleague Lorrie Heagy for writing a beautiful summary of our visits):
Conservatory Lab Charter School
Boston City Singers
Boston Arts Academy
Open Access to Music Education for Children (OAMEC)
Community Music Center of Boston
Boston Children's Chorus
My heart was warmed as I saw all of the great work being done by these organizations throughout the community. Some of these organizations have great community support, others are barely scrapping the bottom of the barrel without knowing if they will exist next season. Despite their resources, they are changing thousands of young lives in Boston and many thousands more throughout their communities and audiences.
El Sistema graduate Luigi Mazzocchi, who works as a musician and teacher in the Philadelphia area, once asked me if I knew "the secret" of El Sistema. I was surprised to hear his simple response: "These kids play for twenty hours each week. If you do something for twenty hours a week, you get pretty good at it". As I learn more about El Sistema and everything we need to know to get a music program implemented here in the states, I have realized that we already have the infrastructure for "El Sistema" here. Why not collaborate to share knowledge, experience, and resources so that we can reach more kids, run our programs cheaper and build a sustainable grassroots effort to fire our communities up with music?
I know... it's not easy to collaborate and get everyone on the same page. I've been building relationships in Reading, Pennsylvania for a year and a half and finally, we will sit down very soon to sketch out plans for a program. Talks in Philadelphia are over a month in progress and the blueprint has already been designed for a nucleo to be developed in north Philly next fall. I travel to Atlanta next week to speak at the TEDx Peachtree conference and meet with several stakeholders to design an El Sistema inspired program throughout the city. Each program will be based around collaborations between social services, music education programs, local youth ensembles and professional performing organizations.
The most important factor in sustaining music in our communities is the active collaboration of stakeholders of the community in creating and executing the musical programs of that community. A kaleidoscope of small communities composed of individuals and groups from the broader community actively engage with one another in music and music education activities inside and outside of the schools. Their interactions deepen their appreciation for and understanding of music and strengthen their bonds. They form networks that actively promote the importance of arts education in the general education of all students and in the social, civic, and cultural lives of that community.
Building relationships around your area will help you build partnerships that are desperately needed to support our individual programs. If you think that music can change young lives and bring communities together, please know that you are not alone. It's a vision and mission that is bigger than any one of us.
Build relationships and see where the future takes you. Partnerships may make you anxious and doubtful and if you manage those feelings well, that's the first step in building partnerships. As we have seen with the YOLA program in LA and the OrchKids program in Baltimore, there is a shift from the "I can do it all myself" to "join our effort". Each program has partnerships that are growing to this day. Be prepared! Be prepared for those that will react competitively to your outstretched arms. Do not focus on what you must give up, rather think of how a partnership can enhance what you do and be ready to suggest ways that you can use one of your resources to help another. Turn your focus from what is yours to what could be "ours". Resist the behavior of reverting back to old ways. Free yourself of the troubles of the "I can do it all myself better than anyone else" attitude. Pull together those people who understand the broader picture, and constantly invite those that don't quite understand, into your circle. They will be the ones that will help you build solutions and help everyone move forward taller and stronger than yesterday. Finally, don’t forget these two important rules:
1) It’s about the kids.
2) When in doubt, refer to rule number 1.
Conservatory Lab Charter School
Boston City Singers
Boston Arts Academy
Open Access to Music Education for Children (OAMEC)
Community Music Center of Boston
Boston Children's Chorus
My heart was warmed as I saw all of the great work being done by these organizations throughout the community. Some of these organizations have great community support, others are barely scrapping the bottom of the barrel without knowing if they will exist next season. Despite their resources, they are changing thousands of young lives in Boston and many thousands more throughout their communities and audiences.
El Sistema graduate Luigi Mazzocchi, who works as a musician and teacher in the Philadelphia area, once asked me if I knew "the secret" of El Sistema. I was surprised to hear his simple response: "These kids play for twenty hours each week. If you do something for twenty hours a week, you get pretty good at it". As I learn more about El Sistema and everything we need to know to get a music program implemented here in the states, I have realized that we already have the infrastructure for "El Sistema" here. Why not collaborate to share knowledge, experience, and resources so that we can reach more kids, run our programs cheaper and build a sustainable grassroots effort to fire our communities up with music?
I know... it's not easy to collaborate and get everyone on the same page. I've been building relationships in Reading, Pennsylvania for a year and a half and finally, we will sit down very soon to sketch out plans for a program. Talks in Philadelphia are over a month in progress and the blueprint has already been designed for a nucleo to be developed in north Philly next fall. I travel to Atlanta next week to speak at the TEDx Peachtree conference and meet with several stakeholders to design an El Sistema inspired program throughout the city. Each program will be based around collaborations between social services, music education programs, local youth ensembles and professional performing organizations.
The most important factor in sustaining music in our communities is the active collaboration of stakeholders of the community in creating and executing the musical programs of that community. A kaleidoscope of small communities composed of individuals and groups from the broader community actively engage with one another in music and music education activities inside and outside of the schools. Their interactions deepen their appreciation for and understanding of music and strengthen their bonds. They form networks that actively promote the importance of arts education in the general education of all students and in the social, civic, and cultural lives of that community.
Building relationships around your area will help you build partnerships that are desperately needed to support our individual programs. If you think that music can change young lives and bring communities together, please know that you are not alone. It's a vision and mission that is bigger than any one of us.
Build relationships and see where the future takes you. Partnerships may make you anxious and doubtful and if you manage those feelings well, that's the first step in building partnerships. As we have seen with the YOLA program in LA and the OrchKids program in Baltimore, there is a shift from the "I can do it all myself" to "join our effort". Each program has partnerships that are growing to this day. Be prepared! Be prepared for those that will react competitively to your outstretched arms. Do not focus on what you must give up, rather think of how a partnership can enhance what you do and be ready to suggest ways that you can use one of your resources to help another. Turn your focus from what is yours to what could be "ours". Resist the behavior of reverting back to old ways. Free yourself of the troubles of the "I can do it all myself better than anyone else" attitude. Pull together those people who understand the broader picture, and constantly invite those that don't quite understand, into your circle. They will be the ones that will help you build solutions and help everyone move forward taller and stronger than yesterday. Finally, don’t forget these two important rules:
1) It’s about the kids.
2) When in doubt, refer to rule number 1.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
An American El Sistema nucleo in the works...
We finally left the comforts of our conference room at NEC and took a trip down to Baltimore to observe the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's (BSO) developing nucleo. OrchKids is an after-school program designed to effect social change and nurture promising futures for youth in Baltimore City’s low-income neighborhoods. In collaboration with a broad array of community partners, the BSO’s OrchKids program will provide music education, instruments and mentorship to Baltimore’s neediest youngsters.
I'd like to share my thoughts in this four minute video highlight of my time with OrchKids. My education that week was seeing and I've compiled my most memorable moments there:
I'd like to share my thoughts in this four minute video highlight of my time with OrchKids. My education that week was seeing and I've compiled my most memorable moments there:
Sunday, November 8, 2009
El Sistema Canada and a busy 4th week
Our fearless leader Mark Churchill fired up our fourth week off with an e-mail about his time in Toronto at The Glenn Gould Prize Celebration of Music Week, which was awarded to Jose Abreu:
Our week focused on curriculum planning and child development. The Director of Education Activities for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gretchen Neilsen, lead our first three days about curriculum development and introduced me to the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program. Gretchen is one of the key movers of El Sistema in the US as the key leader behind the LA Phil’s new El Sistema inspired programs and partnerships and she didn't withhold any wisdom or advice. She personally listened to my ideas and helped me to make sketches of how best to implement the nucleos I plan to start next fall. For each idea, we went through these steps:
- What's the local environment and context
- Strategies
- Project Goals: What are the broad long-term desired results of my project
- Project Resources: What resources are you investing in this innovation to achieve your project goals? (human, financial, organizational, and community resources)
- Project Activities: Using these resources, what activities are you carrying out to achieve your project goals?
- Project Outcomes: What measurable benefits (to your internal and external stakeholders) do you expect over time as a result of your project activities? What are the broad long-term desired results of your project?
- Project indicators: What are the indicators you will track to measure the progress towards your project outcomes?
Once I answered all of these questions, I had a pretty good model to help me design my curriculum and strategic plan for my programs. These are plans that are being used to explore the possibilities in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Reading (PA). I can't wait to reveal how those plans take shape into nucleos. Stay tuned!
We also spent the week with Sebastian Ruth from Providence, Rhode Island's Community Music Works program. He talked about the differences between working with beginning students and intermediate/advanced students (aside from the literal curriculum) – also thinking about working with students over time and how this impacts program design; general issues of motivation; working with multiple cultures and ethnicities of students in an urban area. What an impressive program!
We had Eli Newberger come speak with us about child development issues that might come up in our work – including how to motivate students, and how to handle behavioral issues. I believe we have become partially literate in understanding boy and girl developmental differences, particularly in early and late adolescence. We grasped a sense of some of the important entry points for music in children's lives. Eli has written an amazing book, "The Men They Will Become" - I hope you get a chance to read this book!
"The whole country of Canada seems on fire with the idea that El Sistema programs must be implemented as quickly as possible. One is already flourishing in Ottawa, and another has just been launched in New Brunswick. Spending time with Dr. Abreu is always a profound inspiration. Hearing him express the ideas of El Sistema in even more powerful ways and feeling the energy and hope of the listeners was thrilling. He mentioned the Abreu Fellows several times in his speeches, clearly looking to you as the backbone of the proliferation of El Sistema not only in the US but also in the world. Gustavo Dudamel and the other El Sistema leaders also send their best wishes and congratulations, very much looking forward to see you in Venezuela."
Our week focused on curriculum planning and child development. The Director of Education Activities for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gretchen Neilsen, lead our first three days about curriculum development and introduced me to the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program. Gretchen is one of the key movers of El Sistema in the US as the key leader behind the LA Phil’s new El Sistema inspired programs and partnerships and she didn't withhold any wisdom or advice. She personally listened to my ideas and helped me to make sketches of how best to implement the nucleos I plan to start next fall. For each idea, we went through these steps:
- What's the local environment and context
- Strategies
- Project Goals: What are the broad long-term desired results of my project
- Project Resources: What resources are you investing in this innovation to achieve your project goals? (human, financial, organizational, and community resources)
- Project Activities: Using these resources, what activities are you carrying out to achieve your project goals?
- Project Outcomes: What measurable benefits (to your internal and external stakeholders) do you expect over time as a result of your project activities? What are the broad long-term desired results of your project?
- Project indicators: What are the indicators you will track to measure the progress towards your project outcomes?
Once I answered all of these questions, I had a pretty good model to help me design my curriculum and strategic plan for my programs. These are plans that are being used to explore the possibilities in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Reading (PA). I can't wait to reveal how those plans take shape into nucleos. Stay tuned!
We also spent the week with Sebastian Ruth from Providence, Rhode Island's Community Music Works program. He talked about the differences between working with beginning students and intermediate/advanced students (aside from the literal curriculum) – also thinking about working with students over time and how this impacts program design; general issues of motivation; working with multiple cultures and ethnicities of students in an urban area. What an impressive program!
We had Eli Newberger come speak with us about child development issues that might come up in our work – including how to motivate students, and how to handle behavioral issues. I believe we have become partially literate in understanding boy and girl developmental differences, particularly in early and late adolescence. We grasped a sense of some of the important entry points for music in children's lives. Eli has written an amazing book, "The Men They Will Become" - I hope you get a chance to read this book!
Monday, November 2, 2009
What are your core values?
Core Value |ˈkôr valyoō| - the central or most important part of something that regards to something that is held to deserve
We started week 3 off with Gregory Kandel, who is the founder and a partner of Management Consultants for the Arts, Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut. The firm assists cultural organizations in planning, executive search, and organizational analysis and he spent the entire first day with him. He left me with thoughts that have constantly stayed on my mind. MCA has worked with everyone and their mothers to help them strategically plan for success. Greg has seen every possible scenario in the arts business.
Our work as artists and musical organizations depend on having a mission and core values. The core values of an artist or musical organization are those values we hold which build a base on which we present and behave. Hopefully our missions are flexible to keep up with the demands and changes of the day, but our values are constants that keep up with the changes in government, technology, politics and society. Again, the core values are that base, or foundation, that we engage to accomplish our mission. These values underline our work, show us how communicate with one another and guide our strategies to accomplish our mission. In its simplest form, core values tell us how to go about what we do.
Greg helped me to realize that I must put myself in a position where I evaluate the environment around me, predict the future (not react to it) and work around obstacles. In regards to evaluating the environment - my fundamental beliefs must be strong enough to be willing and ready to be punished by my environment. Embracing a changing society is not easy and do you have a strong foundation of core values to navigate you through those changes.
My core value is that I believe music can tell us who we are and show us where we belong. Every kid in America wonders who they are and search for where they belong. Every kid. Trust me, we don't need to populate America with more musicians, but we desperately need to populate America with citizens that know who they are and where they belong. That is my mission as a leader in the El Sistema USA movement.
Help me paint a picture of what we will look like in the future. Come join me on this journey to bring communities together with music, help kids realize who they are and help direct them through a meaningful life full of possibilities.
We started week 3 off with Gregory Kandel, who is the founder and a partner of Management Consultants for the Arts, Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut. The firm assists cultural organizations in planning, executive search, and organizational analysis and he spent the entire first day with him. He left me with thoughts that have constantly stayed on my mind. MCA has worked with everyone and their mothers to help them strategically plan for success. Greg has seen every possible scenario in the arts business.
Our work as artists and musical organizations depend on having a mission and core values. The core values of an artist or musical organization are those values we hold which build a base on which we present and behave. Hopefully our missions are flexible to keep up with the demands and changes of the day, but our values are constants that keep up with the changes in government, technology, politics and society. Again, the core values are that base, or foundation, that we engage to accomplish our mission. These values underline our work, show us how communicate with one another and guide our strategies to accomplish our mission. In its simplest form, core values tell us how to go about what we do.
Greg helped me to realize that I must put myself in a position where I evaluate the environment around me, predict the future (not react to it) and work around obstacles. In regards to evaluating the environment - my fundamental beliefs must be strong enough to be willing and ready to be punished by my environment. Embracing a changing society is not easy and do you have a strong foundation of core values to navigate you through those changes.
My core value is that I believe music can tell us who we are and show us where we belong. Every kid in America wonders who they are and search for where they belong. Every kid. Trust me, we don't need to populate America with more musicians, but we desperately need to populate America with citizens that know who they are and where they belong. That is my mission as a leader in the El Sistema USA movement.
Help me paint a picture of what we will look like in the future. Come join me on this journey to bring communities together with music, help kids realize who they are and help direct them through a meaningful life full of possibilities.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Reality Check?!
This week was a HUGE reality check for me and helped me to differentiate between what is ideal and what is the reality of an El Sistema-styled program in the US:
Dan Trahey from the Baltimore Symphony's OrchKids came and shared his knowledge about creating a nucleo in one of Baltimore's roughest neighborhoods. His team is doing an amazing job with these kids and serves as a model nucleo we all could learn from. They partnered with the Harriet Tubman school in Baltimore and have created a safe haven for the kids to grow musically. They created a five year plan, started kids in the 1st grade and each year, more students are added to the program. The students are engaged each day after school in various musical activities, fed a snack and get their homework done. Check out the video on their website which does an awesome job of explaining what they do. I don't know if I want my program to be under the umbrella of a symphony orchestra, but I would want a strong partnership with the nearest professional orchestra.
Monday afternoon, Michael Melcher, a prominent leadership coach from NYC shared tons of ideas about effective leadership and some tough questions I hope to answer throughout this fellowship program: What is the point of leadership? How would you define your leadership brand? What would you like to be known in the future?
We also had Roberto Zambrano come share his knowledge of El Sistema. He is currently a regional coordinator for El Sistema and really knows that organization inside and out. Tanya Maggi, who works for NEC's partnership department, shared her extensive experience with building an impressive network of partnerships in Boston and beyond. Nick Skinner, also from OrchKids, worked with us about the "nucleos ecosystem" and managing teachers and staff. I'll be sure to steal a few of his ideas!
The week ended with two amazing seminars: One from Daphne Griffin, who works in the city's mayor office as the executive director of Boston Centers for Youth and Families. The needs of Boston families and communities are the needs of every American family and community. Of all the programs she discussed the city has initiated or support, none of them compare in depth to what an El Sistema-styled program would offer. Daphne has seen the power of El Sistema with her eyes... she knows. It's our job now to influence those points to the communities we'll go back to next year.
The week ended with a powerful presentation by Ben Cameron of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. It was a sobering presentation but has really encouraged me to completely adjust my approach of promoting the importance of this El Sistema USA movement. The arts are not failing: Most kids I know are singing, rapping, writing poems, creating videos to post on YouTube, spray-painting on buildings, drawing on subway ads, marching in a band, and much more... We need to harness this energy and use it to give kids a great outlet to express themselves. American culture = football, baseball and basketball. There are basketball courts every 2 miles and built in every school. We know how hard it is to play basketball - we participated, we watched our friends participate, we watched Michael Jordan prove what we thought was impossible. Yes I know... there is not a music facility ever 2 miles, but we can do our part to make what we do more participatory. I've worked with lots of orchestras from the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra to the Ocean City Pops Orchestra to present various education programs. I've put on costumes to act out "Little Red Riding Hood" and brought kids on all types of musical journeys... they can watch all they want, but nothing is more powerful than having them DO the music making. While those kids make the music, their families and friends will watch them through this process, making instrumental and vocal music weave itself into our culture.
Dan Trahey from the Baltimore Symphony's OrchKids came and shared his knowledge about creating a nucleo in one of Baltimore's roughest neighborhoods. His team is doing an amazing job with these kids and serves as a model nucleo we all could learn from. They partnered with the Harriet Tubman school in Baltimore and have created a safe haven for the kids to grow musically. They created a five year plan, started kids in the 1st grade and each year, more students are added to the program. The students are engaged each day after school in various musical activities, fed a snack and get their homework done. Check out the video on their website which does an awesome job of explaining what they do. I don't know if I want my program to be under the umbrella of a symphony orchestra, but I would want a strong partnership with the nearest professional orchestra.
Monday afternoon, Michael Melcher, a prominent leadership coach from NYC shared tons of ideas about effective leadership and some tough questions I hope to answer throughout this fellowship program: What is the point of leadership? How would you define your leadership brand? What would you like to be known in the future?
We also had Roberto Zambrano come share his knowledge of El Sistema. He is currently a regional coordinator for El Sistema and really knows that organization inside and out. Tanya Maggi, who works for NEC's partnership department, shared her extensive experience with building an impressive network of partnerships in Boston and beyond. Nick Skinner, also from OrchKids, worked with us about the "nucleos ecosystem" and managing teachers and staff. I'll be sure to steal a few of his ideas!
The week ended with two amazing seminars: One from Daphne Griffin, who works in the city's mayor office as the executive director of Boston Centers for Youth and Families. The needs of Boston families and communities are the needs of every American family and community. Of all the programs she discussed the city has initiated or support, none of them compare in depth to what an El Sistema-styled program would offer. Daphne has seen the power of El Sistema with her eyes... she knows. It's our job now to influence those points to the communities we'll go back to next year.
The week ended with a powerful presentation by Ben Cameron of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. It was a sobering presentation but has really encouraged me to completely adjust my approach of promoting the importance of this El Sistema USA movement. The arts are not failing: Most kids I know are singing, rapping, writing poems, creating videos to post on YouTube, spray-painting on buildings, drawing on subway ads, marching in a band, and much more... We need to harness this energy and use it to give kids a great outlet to express themselves. American culture = football, baseball and basketball. There are basketball courts every 2 miles and built in every school. We know how hard it is to play basketball - we participated, we watched our friends participate, we watched Michael Jordan prove what we thought was impossible. Yes I know... there is not a music facility ever 2 miles, but we can do our part to make what we do more participatory. I've worked with lots of orchestras from the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra to the Ocean City Pops Orchestra to present various education programs. I've put on costumes to act out "Little Red Riding Hood" and brought kids on all types of musical journeys... they can watch all they want, but nothing is more powerful than having them DO the music making. While those kids make the music, their families and friends will watch them through this process, making instrumental and vocal music weave itself into our culture.
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