Your July 2020 Resource Basket

Dear Subscriber,

In this difficult time, teaching artists everywhere are working around the clock to address the developing needs of their students and programs. The WE Team knows how much problem-solving has fallen on arts leaders, and our July Resource Basket is slightly longer to reflect our commitment to serving you. This issue brings connections, powerful reading and media, and practical ways to interrogate antiracist practices in the arts. And as you continue to explore innovative learning opportunities for and with your students, you'll find resources that help you continue your work safely and effectively.

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 serve you.

Thanks for reading,

The WE Team

Join the ITAC Think Tank Visioning Lab with Lincoln Center Activate

The International Teaching Artist Collaborative will partner with Lincoln Center Activate for this month’s ITAC Think Tank. On Friday, July 24, at 11:00 a.m. EDT, Lincoln Center will offer a three-hour international gathering for teaching artists and artists who work in community settings to envision next steps and new possibilities for a global community of teaching artistry. Titled “ The Visioning Lab: Boundaries and Pathways ” (the theme of ITAC5, the International Teaching Artist Conference, which will be launched virtually from Seoul, South Korea, September 14-17, 2020) this LC Activate session will include art-making as an inquiry into the theme of ITAC5 . Facilitated by New York-based theater director and choreographer Kevin Carillo, ITAC Managing Director Madeleine McGirk, and Lincoln Center Teaching Artist Belinda Sáenz, the goal is to create a multi-disciplinary, virtual collage that can be shared with our local and global communities. To see more free offerings in Lincoln Center Activate programming, taking place from July 21–24, click here .

SoundPost Podcast from The Orchestra of the Americas Group

The Orchestra of the Americas Group has introduced a new resource for those exploring what it means to be a musician in today’s world: The SoundPost Podcast , hosted by conductors Carlos Miguel Prieto and Raúl Gómez. Featuring conversations with leading artists like Latin jazz icon Paquito D’Rivera, pianist and Amnesty International Ambassador Gabriela Montero, and the Metropolitan Opera’s Javier Gándara, it aims to broaden our musical horizons by engaging artists across the world. SoundPost is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, Anchor, and other podcast platforms.

The OA Group is also still operating its Americas Response distance-learning online platform, which provides free access to performance opportunities and masterclasses with some of the greatest musicians across South, Central, and North America. While making use of this resource, be sure to explore the three arms of Americas Response—OAcademy Online, #AmericasVoices, and Player-to-Player Series—and join this growing community of teaching artists and performers.

Resources for Antiracist Practices

We hear from colleagues around the world that the painful issues of racism that fill the news in the U.S. resonate with racial tensions in music for social change programs everywhere. Last month we recommended How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi; on Monday, July 30, you can join an online discussion with Kendi at 7:00 p.m. EDT. This discussion is hosted by The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) as part of their “The Elephan t We Don’t See: A Diversity Dialogue” Series and there is no maximum capacity. The series will be made available online afterward; please email pr@pgcmls.info for more information.

If you’re looking for another book that will help you rethink your own role in fighting racism, we recommend Not Light, But Fire by Matthew R. Kay . The author has spent his career leading students through difficult conversations about race; this book will help teaching artists learn how to do the same in their own classrooms and rehearsal spaces. Kay demonstrates that education settings are some of the best places for such conversations, but you must first do the work to set them up.

U.K. Publishes Comprehensive Guidelines for Music Programs Looking to Restart

The U.K. government has just published the most detailed guidelines we have seen from any authority about when and how to return to in-person music education programs. This section includes detailed safety recommendations to apply to different instrument groups and musical activities. As we all try to determine when it will be safe to return to in-person programs, considering different local conditions, these guidelines may be useful around the world.

International Book Club for Teaching Artists

As many around the world continue staying safe at home, colleagues and friends Gabrielle Molina and Monique Van Willingh would like to start a collaborative international book club that focuses on equity. In a changing world, this could be a great space for mutual support and collaboration as we learn from each other in a social (and socially distant) setting. The group hopes to meet online on a monthly basis to share thoughts on the book of the month. Says Gabrielle, “Through this experience, we are hoping to learn and be challenged and supported as we deepen our understanding of the complex issues surrounding equity in our societies.” Their first book will be the classic Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. Please email Monique or Gabrielle to find out more.

The Nancy Hanks Lecture of the 2020 Americans for the Arts Annual Conference

Vijay Gupta, a distinguished El Sistema-connected teaching artist, was asked to give the most prestigious annual lecture on the arts in the U.S.: The Nancy Hanks Lecture, presented during the Americans for the Arts Annual Conference. The lecture draws worldwide attention; it is very rare to see it delivered by a teaching artist. Vijay was a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a MacArthur “genius award” winner, founder of Street Symphony , and a faculty member at the Master of Arts in Teaching Program of Longy School of Music . View his speech here —it is a powerful statement about the value and necessity of our work.

Two prominent blog posts by teaching artists resonate with Gupta’s lecture. Kadenze, the world’s largest online platform for arts learning, reported a tenfold increase in course registrations in the first weeks of the pandemic. In their K Blog, they have posted strong writing by arts-for-social-change leaders that shares their view of how the crisis is impacting their students in Australia and the U.S. The writers are Scott Rankin (CEO and Co-Creative Director of Big hART, Australia’s leading arts and social change organization) and James Miles (Executive Director of Arts Corps in Seattle, one of the nation’s most respected arts learning programs).

Genius Hour

A pair of middle-grades teachers, one from Canada and one from Bahrain, have created a new way to foster compassion and connection between their students and real-world issues. Called “Genius Hour,” it provides students the structure and space to create art, encouraging them to “produce” for their own sakes rather than for a school curriculum. Even better for these quarantine times, it works outside of program hours. Learn about the teaching tool in this MiddleWeb article: “ Can Genius Hour Improve the World? ” by Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi.

Carnegie Hall’s Free Resources

While Carnegie Hall is one of the most famous names in classical music, it is also home to one of the most progressive and generous music education programs in the world. Their website provides free access to their material, including their Musical Explorers series for younger learners (ages 5–7), LinkUp (the world’s largest orchestral learning program, for ages 8–10), and many lesson plans, curricular resources, assessment tools, a wealth of recorded material, masterclasses, professional development videos, and links to resources from other organizations. Carnegie Hall’s education program believes that privileged arts organizations must be generous, and they certainly are.

Ilumina seeks to support the global movement toward equity by connecting young musicians from minority, refugee, and less-privileged backgrounds with quality teachers and mentors from major institutions around the world. Sign up to support their Equal Music initiative here if you could be someone’s teacher. There are many ways to get involved—maintaining weekly, ongoing relationships with students, teaching one-time lessons or group classes, participating in a short-term lesson series (helping prepare for an audition or working on a specific topic), or filming an instructional video on a topic that can be shared with many students.

Tips for Using Social Media to Raise Funds

Are you effective at turning social media "likes" into donors? If not, you might benefit from the ideas in this guide, titled " 6 Simple Ways to Turn Likes into Donations .” The Guide is produced by Network for Good , an independent consulting organization whose mission is to help not-for-profit organization become more successful in fundraising. They also have a free fundraising resource library .