‘Polifonia’ Thematic Network for Music Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

The AEC  Founded 1953  European association of more than 240 professional music training institutions Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

The AEC  Aims to promote European cooperation and to address European issues  Projects in SOCRATES, ERASMUS MUNDUS, EU/USA, eCONTENT, CULTURE 2000, LEONARDO programmes  Main office in Utrecht (NL)  Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Who are we?  Philippe Dinkel - Chair Conservatoire de Musique de Genève – CH  Päivi Arjas Jyväskylä Polytechnic – FI  Javier Duque Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Barcelona – ES  Gábor Eckhardt Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest – HU  Leila Faraut Conservatoire National de Region de Strasbourg – FR  Arthur Gieles Royal Conservatoire, The Hague – NL  Patricia Keir Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff - UK Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

‘Polifonia’ Thematic Network for Music Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Project data  Erasmus Thematic Network for music  67 partner organisations  32 European countries  Coordinated jointly by the Malmö Academy of Music and the AEC  Project period 1 October 2004 – 1 October 2007 Friederike Vogel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Project aims  Further study of issues connected to the Bologna Declaration Process  Collect information on levels in music education before and after the 1 st (Bachelor) and 2 nd (Master) study cycles  Explore European trends and changes in the music profession Friederike Vogel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

5 working groups  Tuning  Pre-college  3 rd cycle  Profession  International relations coordinators Friederike Vogel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Main Outcomes  Tools Polifonia/Dublin Descriptors AEC Learning Outcomes Handbooks Country overviews  Reflective documents Literature study on the necessity of starting early with music education Study on current trends and developments in the music profession  Activities Seminars, conferences, presentations Friederike Vogel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

The pre-college working group  Musicians have to start learning an instrument at a young age A literature study has been made of existing research that supports the abovementioned opinion  It is important to know how students are being prepared for the professional level Arthur Gieles Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

 gathered feedback from music institutions, music students and music professionals through questionnaires, interviews and site visits  the group’s objective was to collect information about levels of music education before the higher education level the preparation and admission of music students to higher education Arthur Gieles Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007 The pre-college working group

Admission procedures to European Conservatoires Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Where students at music conservatoires come from?  86% come from institutions that offer music education at pre-college level 45% come from music schools 33% come from secondary level institutions 8% come from junior departments  12% studied privately  2% come other routes Päivi Arjas Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

What is tested? Most widely tested skills and those considered to be the most important: 1)Artistic expression 2)Aural skills 3)Knowledge of different musical styles Päivi Arjas Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Conclusions  Most students have attended some kind of formal pre-college institutions before the college-level  Can be viewed as evidence to the effectiveness of structured pre-college education  Emphasizes the continuum in music education Päivi Arjas Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Conclusions  WITHOUT A STRONG PRE-COLLEGE SYSTEM IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO IMPLEMENT THE BOLOGNA PROCESS  It is essential to monitor the topic as an ongoing basis and update it regularly Päivi Arjas Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

General conclusions  Starting music training at an early age is crucial  Most students entering higher education in music come from pre-college institutions  A well-developed pre-college education leads to a higher professional standard in higher music education Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

General conclusions  The strength of the connection between pre-college level education and higher education depends on the existence of a national curriculum  Music education is a continuum and it is therefore difficult to pinpoint the exact beginning of professional studies and to conceptualise the different phases of education.  Nevertheless, musical pre-college education is a specific phase in musical education and needs to be recognised as such. Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Further steps  to promote a dialogue/cooperation between the institutions of higher musical education and those at the pre-college level  to gather statistical information beyond the country descriptions about the institutional origins of students  to see if processes in various music genres differ from each other Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Further steps  The AEC pre-college group will offer a pre- college message board on the Polifonia website to approach the topic more proactively.  A declaration by the pre-college group with conclusions and recommendations at a political level. Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007

Further steps  During the second cycle of ‘Polifonia’, the pre- college issue will be continued through: A conference on pre-college music training in Oslo, February 2008 A strong focus on the training of instrumental teachers (working group for the formulation of competences, exchange of good practice, etc) Seminars on instrumental teaching in Helsinki (Spring 2008) and during the EU Year for Education & Culture 2009 (Czech Republic)  EMU will be a partner in the ‘Polifonia’ 2 nd cycle. Philippe Dinkel Budapest, Friday 18 May 2007