YAM Speakers '26
YAM Talk 1
SPEAKER
Ron Davis Álvarez
Conductor, Educator and Founder of the Dream Orchestra
Where Harmony Begins: Building Leadership Through Music
How can music rebuild trust, strengthen identity, and create lasting communities in places shaped by migration and conflict? Drawing on his global experience with the Dream Orchestra and Side by Side, Ron Davis Álvarez explores how listening, shared leadership, discipline, precision, empathy, and a shared sense of purpose can help organizations build stronger, more resilient teams. Whether in education, business, healthcare, technology, or public service, this keynote challenges audiences to rethink leadership, collaboration, and inclusion. It demonstrates that the principles that enable an orchestra to perform at its best are the same principles that allow organizations to succeed together—proving that harmony does not happen by accident, but is created through trust, vision, and people working together with purpose.
YAM Talk 2
SPEAKER
Thomas Thorsen
SPEAKER
Mikkel Snorre Boysen
Pdh Student University of Southern Denmark
Docent and Researcher, University College Absalon
School Concerts as Spaces of Resonance and Belonging
There is still limited knowledge about the significance of students’ encounters with professional live music in schools. How do concert experiences (combined with educational materials and classroom activities) influence students? How do they contribute to students’ sense of community and belonging, and to processes of Bildung, aesthetic experience, and cultural formation? To address these questions, LMS has partnered with researchers from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and three university colleges (Absalon, VIA and UCN) in the research project Når musikken spiller – Fase II (When the Music Starts Playing – Phase II). The project was initiated in 2023, and Phase II will run from 2026 to 2029.
