Making Music—and Connections—with upstArt’s LPS World Music Tour

Lincoln Arts is partnering with musician Daniel Martinez to begin the LPS World Music Tour, a multi-year project which will eventually bring performances and lessons on indigenous and cultural music to all 40,000 students in Lincoln Public Schools’ (LPS) nearly 60 schools. The Tour has already launched at Moore, Kooser, and Culler Middle Schools (see the program’s influence on youth and music expression here), with plans to bring the tour to McPhee, Pyrtle, and Zeman Elementary Schools in the coming weeks.

At each school, Daniel leads workshops that explore musical cultures from across the world. Students have the opportunities to make own instruments and listen to Daniel create music with a variety of world instruments. Students also discuss the role of music in cultural identity and the many forms it takes across the world and throughout history. It all culminates in a musical performance from Daniel and his band, Jarana for the entire school.

LPS educates students from countries around the globe speaking a vast range of languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese. The LPS World Music Tour brings these students the opportunity to experience something familiar in an unfamiliar place, to feel acknowledged, and to feel included.

“I remember one instance at Moore Elementary,” Daniel said. “There was a second grader from El Salvador, and he was experiencing his very first day in an American School. But he lit up with joy once he found out he was able to play familiar music and had the chance to speak with me in Spanish.”

This project, bringing comfort to young students from all over the world, is made possible, in part, through generous funding from the Nebraska Arts Council. Lincoln Arts looks forward to the next several years as we continue to make stops on the LPS World Music Tour.