El Sistema Residency

Connecting Communities Through Music (April 5-7, 2025)

Over the course of the first weekend in April, King is excited to host its tenth annual El Sistema Residency, in which talented musicians from King’s Middle and Upper Schools collaborate in intensive music workshops with visiting students of various El Sistema USA programs, including Stamford’s own Project Music. The overarching focus of the residency is to inspire a deeper connection between communities of different socioeconomic backgrounds by using music as a vehicle to give voice to diverse cultural identities and to amplify lived experiences. Through this residency we hope to:

  • Understand music as a reflection of culture and expression of identity

  • Give voice to, and amplify, perspectives from diverse lived experiences

  • Use music to inspire connections across our superficial differences

  • Explore new ways to create and disseminate music  

  • Blend music from varied styles and cultures into new compositions and unique concerts

Collective Composition

Collective Composition is an opportunity for people to come together and creatively explore and express their stories, ideas and emotions through music. Collective Composition emphasizes the creation and performance of music as a process that all people can access, and offers shared experiences through which individuals, communities, and culture may strengthen and expand. Led by Dan Trahey, Director of the Archipelago Project and Collective Conservatory, students will use themes inspired by the mash-up concept to create their own original compositions. 2024-Surely, We Are Gifted.

Featuring New Composers & Compositions

A primary focus of the residency is featuring new music from composers of today. This allows our students to connect how music is a living, breathing art form. We will be featuring music from Marie Douglas, Soon Hee NewBold, and Pete Francis. All of these composers are active in the field today and students will have the opportunity to interact with the composers over virtual master-classes. 

Performances

There will be four performances associated with the residency. 

  • On Sunday, April 6, there will be a community concert, open to the public at 4:30 p.m. 

  • On Monday, April 7, the residency will conclude with morning assembly concerts for each school division at King. 

All performances will be held in the Performing Arts Center.

Participating Programs

Guest Artists

Pete Francis (Singer-Songwriter, Founding Member of Dispatch)

A New England native, Francis first came to fame in the late 90’s as a founding member of alternative roots powerhouse Dispatch, whose remarkable rise from Middlebury College to Madison Square Garden helped rewrite the rulebooks for modern indie bands. It was the sheer joy of the band’s legendary early performances that helped the band’s fan base swell online.  Dispatched has sold over 700,000 albums and has performed to sold out audiences at Madison Square Garden and Boston’s TD Garden. As a solo artist, Pete has released 17 albums.

In addition to his work as a musician, Francis has also taught songwriting at Middlebury College and collaborated with his wife, the visual artist Katie Heimbold, to launch the Dragoncrest Collective, a community organization that seeks to bring artists and art-lovers together through a series of live, interactive shows and events.

Dan Trahey: Director Of Archipelago Project and Collective Conservatory

Dan Trahey is a musician, educator, and innovator. He was instrumental in the creation of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids, where he currently serves as Artistic Liaison. Dan also founded the El Sistema-inspired program Tuned In at the Peabody Conservatory, where he teaches creative composition and community engagement. As a tuba player with the Archipelago Project, he travels the world promoting cross-genre performances and has performed for hundreds of thousands of children, specifically targeting impoverished areas with little access to live performance. He has held orchestral positions in Mexico and the United States. Trahey is part of the composition troupe Creative Connections that works to bring communities together through collective and creative composition. Dan has been featured in countless publications including 60 Minutes, PBS, NPR, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He recently gave a TED talk at TEDx Baltimore, and was named the “Most Valuable Player in the Arts” by Baltimore Magazine.