The 15 Leaders-in-Residence organizations have been a feature of the GLP curriculum since 2020, and offer valuable insight into what innovation looks like today in the music sector.
During the first semester, the cohort is divided into teams of four, and each team is assigned a Leaders-In-Residence organization. Over the course of the semester, each team dives into the world of their organization, conducting interviews with its founder and also with a teaching artist, education director, or operations director – someone more connected with the day-to-day service delivery. These interviews form a knowledge base that is then used for a number of assignments during the semester.
Pedro Zenteno, Academic Director of the GLP, explains why this approach has been so valuable for the GLP syllabus: “The Leaders-In-Residence organizations allow us to work towards two simultaneous objectives: applying the learning of our curriculum to a real-life setting, and expanding cohort members’ sense of possibility in terms of how music can bring new value to society through innovative services and effective leadership. The opportunity to have small teams studying 15 different organizations creates a rich learning context, where cohort members can learn from several reference points, and from different cultural contexts to their own.”
The Leaders-in-Residence Organizations:
- Community MusicWorks
- Buffalo String Works
- Sister Cities Girls Choir
- Lullaby Project
- Sistema Greece
- Sistema New Brunswick
- The Amber Trust
- My Voice Music
- Sphinx Organization
- Sistema Japan
- Blume Haiti
- Musical Connections at Sing Sing Correctional Facility
- ToneBase
- Group Muse
- The Canales Project
Pedro Zenteno describes that the main criteria guiding the selection of the 15 Leaders-in-Residence organizations was “maximizing diversity in terms of cultures represented and impact scope. When cohort members explore the websites of these organizations on week one of the program, we hope they realize right away that the range of mission statements and countries represented speak of the field’s ever-growing understanding of the role that music can play to transform communities.”
He also says that this academic model develops the idea of innovation in the music sector: “Cohort members are presented with a rather unique learning proposition: identify innovations – taking place all over the world – navigate a curriculum that helps you internalize those innovations as useful practices, and carry these with you as an expanded set of possibilities to amplify the value that music creates in your community.”
Assignments where music meets business:
Coursework during the first semester focuses on social entrepreneurship models. From mapping out the organization’s theory of change, to reassembling their business model through the Impact Business Model Canvas (a framework developed by Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business), cohort members apply the frameworks they learn about in class to their assigned organizations.
Yutaka Kikugawa from El Sistema Japan speaks to this applied coursework approach, saying that “last year the talented and passionate GLP cohort members gave us the opportunity to critically review our program and broaden the operational horizon. I really appreciated their professional contribution.”
The leadership team and staff from each organization volunteer their interview time to support the cohort’s growth as innovators in the field – Ken MacLeod from Sistema New Brunswick says “we’ve been involved since the beginning of GLP. We’re really proud to have been involved – myself as a faculty member and a member of the Advisory Committee, as a host site for GLP members on fieldwork, and as a Leaders-in-Residence organization.”
The customized concert gift:
At the end of the semester, cohort members craft a concert that is a perfect fit for their assigned organization—an achievable “whole package” that can advance the organization’s connections with a key stakeholder group. This concert blueprint is given to the organization as a customized gift, in thanks for their open and generous collaboration with the GLP team.
Angela Voyajolu, interim CEO of The Amber Trust says that “each year we hold a concert that showcases the talents of some of the visually impaired children and young people we support. In 2021, two members of The Global Leader’s Program created special musical arrangements for our beneficiaries to perform. This provided rich ensemble experiences for both our performers and the audience. The GLP cohort members also had the opportunity to work with the children and young people on the day, offering them new insights into working with blind and partially sighted performers.”
Learn more about the GLP curriculum here
Download the 2022 GLP prospectus here
