Exploring El Sistema

Exploring El Sistema-Inspired Assessment Practice

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 document and measure the effectiveness and impact of El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States; that is, carrying out evaluation and assessment. The terms “assessment” and “evaluation,” while highly related, refer to substantively different things. Assessment measures the student learning that takes place, whereas evaluation measures the quality of the learning experience (or programming).

Our exploration of these topics proved much richer and more robust than we originally expected once we realized how many facets there were to these topics, from both social and musical standpoints. However, three key overarching questions emerged from our process: 

For whom do we assess? 

What do we assess? 

How do we assess? 

As a field, we often feel the need to prove our program’s value to those on the outside through our evaluation and assessment results; assessment, however, can and should be just as introspective as outward looking. We advocate using assessment tools and practices for the purpose of determining effective programming and teaching, improving students’ learning and experiences, and ultimately leading to longer-term outcomes and impact. Thorough and intentional assessment has the potential to inform program growth and provide a clear direction for the field. 

Continue reading by downloading our document.

Andrea Landin, Carlos Roldan, Elaine Sandoval, Sara Zanussi 
Sistema Fellows '13 

(Re)telling stories

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 violins down and told them I had a favor to request. I described to them my heavy heart and wanted to see if anyone had ever felt the same. Most raised their hands, and we discussed ways that we make ourselves feel better. I shared that really beautiful music has the capability to bring a smile to my face, but that I hadn’t heard any really beautiful, live music recently. Could they help me with this?

Continue reading on my personal blog.

Andrea Landin, Sistema Fellow '13 

Springtime Fellows

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

Congratulations Rachel!

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 kind in Kentucky, and the only El Sistema-inspired program meeting daily between Cincinnati and Atlanta.

The North Limestone MusicWorks will be an intensive musical training program for 20-30 second and third grade students, and will run for two hours per day, five days a week, following the Academic Calendar. CKYO is excited to welcome Rachel Hockenberry to its Artistic Staff, and to the musical community of Lexington, as the program’s founding Director. Rachel is a recent graduate of the Sistema Fellows Program at New England Conservatory, the only El Sistema leadership training program in the world. Ms. Hockenberry will move from Boston, MA to Lexington, KY to administer the program.

Continue reading here. 

From day one

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 was an air of excitement as the thirty of them sat down to play together as an ensemble. While it was mainly strings, there was also a clarinet, flute, recorder, and, arriving fashionably late, a young trumpet player. 

Their first piece, titled “Levántense”, consisted of two notes – open strings A and D. After a few attempts, they made it to the end of the thirty-second piece, and I wondered what the conductor would work on. Bow stroke? Rhythm? Staying together? He lowered his arms. “Take out your pencils and write a p beneath the first note. Then a shape like this” – he turned his fingers to form a sideways V – “and in the third measure, an f”. Later on came a decrescendo that led back into piano. This is what they focused on for the rest of the rehearsal.

Inspired by this emphasis on dynamics from (literally) day one, I decided to plan a similar lesson last week at Bridge Charter School in Dorchester...

Continue reading on my personal blog.

Andrea Landin
Sistema Fellow '13 

The Ensemble, May edition

The May edition of Tricia Tunstall and Eric Booth's publication chronicling the emerging field of El Sistema-inspired activity in the US and beyond is found here.

Free day!

Enjoying a field trip to Concord on the commuter rail.

NEC board presentation

March symposium report

March 26 and 27 marked an important moment for Boston’s El Sistema community.

On March 26, six El Sistema-inspired programs convened at NEC for an afternoon of music making: Conservatory Lab Charter School (Rebecca Levi, director); El Sistema Somerville (Diane Cline, director); Bridge Boston Charter School (Julie Davis, director); Josiah Quincy Elementary School (Graciela Briceno, director); Margarita Muñiz Academy (Rebecca Frost, director); and Open Access to Music Education for Children (Marie Montilla, director). Facilitated by the Sistema Fellows, this fun and lively event served as the first time that all of these local programs came together to share music with each other.



As NEC’s Williams Hall filled with young instrumentalists and vocalists from ages 6–16 (and at varying stages of musical growth), the Sistema Fellows introduced several icebreakers and welcoming songs. The session was then handed over to two of NEC’s Contemporary Improvisation faculty members, Eden MacAdam-Somer and Nedelka Prescod, who led the students in the rest of the afternoon’s music making. 



There was no prepared piece to rehearse and perform; instead, the focus was on aural learning and improvisation. MacAdam-Somer and Prescod led the children in a call and response chant, followed by participants transferring the vocalized chant to their instruments. The beginners plucked a rhythmic ostinato on open strings, while the more advanced string students played the melody and the high school-aged vocalists learned a harmony to place on top of the string tune. After a snack and socializing, the event culminated in more music making with the addition of dance steps corresponding to the call and response chant.



In addition to the ten Sistema Fellows, directors, teachers, and between ten and twelve students from each of the six nucleos, NEC staff and students, and invited guests participated during the course of the afternoon. All of the student participants were provided with red, white, blue or yellow shirts—the combined colors of the Venezuelan and American flags.



On March 27, the morning began with local nucleo directors and teachers meeting with the Sistema Fellows to discuss the events from the previous afternoon: what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what can be better next time. It is the hope of all parties concerned that this effort towards relationship building between programs will be a catalyst for the sustained collaboration of the growing El Sistema network in Greater Boston.

The next portion of the morning was devoted to discussing collaboration and relationship building between local nucleos and other like-minded organizations in Boston. An opening “provocation” (via Skype) by San Francisco Bay Area-based writer and activist Arlene Goldbard sparked conversation. Arlene provided a number of factors to consider when thinking of collaborating. She challenged us to be sure that one question always is asked: to whom are you accountable? Her answer: the people for whom we do this work. She also inspired us to examine our personal relationship to the cultural context that classical music exists within, and how our feelings about this context influence the work that we do. Memorably, she reminded us that we are the creators of culture, not the receivers of culture. 

Arlene’s provocation led into a fishbowl-style conversation featuring Elizabeth Hollander (former board president, Community MusicWorks), Tanya Maggi (director, Community Performances and Partnerships at NEC), Karen Zorn (president, Longy School of Bard College), and Ronald Zecher, a veteran music teacher in the Santa Barbara (CA) public schools. They discussed elements of successful collaborations, providing participants with valuable insights. For instance, the idea was presented that organizations themselves don’t accomplish anything; it is the people within those organizations who make things happen. Mission alignment must be present to build a solid foundation; however, mission alignment doesn’t necessarily lead to successful collaboration. Collaboration is dependent on the people involved in the process, and this means that intentional relationship building activities are an essential element of the work. 

The third and final element of the morning was an opportunity for the 40+ participants to engage with each other, dividing up into three self-selected groups. On one side of the room, a number of people were interested in discussing the issue of “diversifying the diversifiers,” meaning bringing more—and different—voices to the conversation, thereby better informing the work of those who are already grappling with the challenge of expanding access to free high-quality music education. One intriguing suggestion was that a longer-term solution for gaining diverse perspectives at the table could be to groom youth participants to eventually take on leading roles, trusting them by giving them significant responsibilities. What would El Sistema-inspired programming that intentionally prepares youth for leadership roles look like?

This two-day event was the first of its kind in Boston. The goal of the convening was to serve as a springboard for building stronger relationships between local nucleos, as well as between nucleos and other practitioners in the fields of arts and youth development. It is the hope of the current class of Sistema Fellows that this event will be repeated and improved upon by next year’s class!

Say Yes to Assess

Say Yes to Assess
 

For our students we just want the best

For them to fly once they leave the nest

Not only survive

But also to thrive

And to do that, we must assess

 

At times it may seem like a mess

with the piles and piles of tests

It's something we shun

But in truth, it's quite fun!

And no, I'm not speaking in jest
 
 

For whom do we do it? And why, how, where, when?

What do all of those terms even mean?

Relax, tranquilo, we have a few thoughts

Let's share and work as a team
 
 

There are three little changes that we hope to make

in the lives of parents and youth

One of them is NOT intrinsic motivation

For that you must see Eric Booth
 
 

But something we will focus on

Is Musical Growth

In groups, not only alone

Listening, Awareness, and Teamwork

Are the indicators that can be shown
 
 

Next up is empowerment and agency

Do kids feel like they have control?

Do they make decisions wisely?

Can they set and meet long term goals?
 
 

Finally comes sense of community

who surrounds them and how they relate

Are they making new friends? Having fun on weekends?

As their neighborhoods awful or great?
 
 

So these are the outcomes

that are our high dreams

We know that there is much more

And it's only a start 

Of a very small part

So let's get to work - let's begin - let's explore!!


Andrea Landin
Sistema Fellow '13