American Composers Orchestra

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is dedicated to the creation, performance and preservation of music by American composers. Their project, Coming to America: Immigrant Sounds/Immigrant Voices, for instance, linked the symphonic work of immigrant composers to issues of immigration and American identity. Dialogue was used during pre and post-concert talks, in-school activities, and presentations within partner institutions.

Resource Link: http://americancomposers.org

Animating Democracy Initiative

Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, fosters arts and cultural activity that encourages and enhances civic engagement and dialogue. It is based on the premise that democracy is animated when an informed public is engaged in the issues affecting people's daily lives. Launched in fall 1999, ADI is a four-year programmatic initiative of Americans for the Arts which fosters artistic activity that encourages civic dialogue on important contemporary issues.

Resource Link: http://www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy

Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force in Civic Dialogue

Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Cheryl Yuen and Pam Korza, Animating Democracy Initiative of Americans for the Arts. Americans for the Arts, 1999.

This report reveals pivotal and innovating roles that the arts can play in the renewal of civic dialogue as well as challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations as they engage in this work.

Resource Link: http://www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy

Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra

The Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra's Klinghoffer Dialogue Project used opera to engage the people of Brooklyn in dialogue on the effects of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians on their community.

Resource Link: http://www.brooklynphilharmonic.org

COAL

COAL was a two-year project (1992-94) conceived by former faculty member Mary Kathleen Ernst that included a commissioned musical piece and residency by the composer, Judith Shatin, at West Virginia's Shepherd College. The purpose of COAL was to deepen the community's knowledge of and relationship to the arts and 20th century music through a project that had resonance in the region. Shatin's statewide research and interviews with citizens of West Virginia focused her residency on mining history and related contemporary issues.

Resource Link: http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/labs/lab_040.asp

Dvorak in America: In Search of the New World

In 2003 and 2004, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) Winter Festival explored issues of American identity through music by Antonin Dvorak. Inspired by Antonin Dvorak's advice that composers should turn to indigenous sources (such as African American spirituals and Native American chant) for inclusion in classical composition, NJSO explored American music and identity through activities and performances.

Resource Link: http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/labs/lab_098.asp

World Urban Café

The World Urban Cafés are an innovative series of discussion and performance events on urban issues, taking place before and during the World Urban Forum (WUF) and World Youth Forum (WYF) to be held in Vancouver in June 2006. The World Urban Café events unite and engage diverse youth and their communities, while showcasing their ideas, action projects, and culture. As of early 2006, there have been 68 Cafés on 4 continents, with over 20,000 participants.

Resource Link: http://www.eya.ca/wuf