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Innovative Conservatoire

Learning cultures and the conservatoire

As educational institutions, conservatoires remain largely unresearched and, crucially, relatively unchallenged. In particular, research has paid little attention to in-depth studies of culture, so that not enough is known of the cultural practices that characterise and shape a conservatoire education. This article addresses this gap through seeking to understand the constructed nature of the ‘learning cultures’ - the cultural practices through which students learn - of a UK conservatoire. Working within an ethnographically-informed case study, multiple qualitative methods were employed to collect in-depth data. Key findings from a four-phased analysis procedure reveal that the conservatoire’s learning cultures are constructed across four intertwined features: (1) learning cultures of performing specialism, (2) learning cultures of social networking, (3) learning cultures of musical hierarchiesand (4) learning cultures of vocational position taking. Implications of the study are discussed, and recommendations made for the introduction of creative and reflective spaces for learning in the conservatoires of the future.

Leaving the bubble

This was the first time I attended a Pop and Jazz Platform meeting of the AEC. My involvement with AEC goes back for some time now. My first experience dates from 20 years ago, when I witnessed Yehudi Menuhin standing on a staircase addressing the delegates of the AEC Conference in Brussels. I think at that conference the number of delegates was lower than the 170 people that have been present these two days. The AEC has grown. The number of pop, jazz, world and folk music schools and departments has grown. Its importance within the sector has grown. And that shows in this meeting.

Musicking in Groningen

This study focuses on the uses and functions of music in the life of individuals in the province of Groningen at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The study is an ethnomusicological study representing the sub-discipline of ethnomusicology-at-home. It uses Andreas Reckwitz’ formulation of practice theory as a theoretical starting point and introduces methodological principles from the field of qualitative sociology. Central in the study is the individual. 30 theoretically sampled individuals recounted their musical biographies in narrative-biographical interviews, which were analyzed in detail and eventually led to a sufficiently suggested grounded theory of the uses and functions of music in Groningen AD 2010. The theory consists o three interrelated compartments. The first compartment contains a description o the uses o music a expressed b the interviewees. ‘Use’ refers t the ‘customary exercise o music’ i concrete musical social situations. The result o this study i of this study. The study describes how three cultural codes seem to be shared amongst many (though not all) of the interviewees: the codes of playing an instrument, craftsmanship, and musicality, together forming the supercode of the music specialist. These three more general codes are combined with two further codes to form the highly specific and culturally hegemonic musical subject culture of art music, expressing that music is a specialism; it is the craft of playing an instrument by talented individuals; that this craftsmanship must be combined with expressivity; and that through this form of specialized expression musical objects come into being which represent the ideal realm of the artistic. By discussing this attempt at a grounded theory of the uses and functions of music in Groningen AD 2010, a picture is delivered of how individuals become musical individuals. Through their musicking in the context of concrete musical social situations they use music for the functions of affirmation, connection and regulation of the self; and they do this in the context of a web of cultural codes labeling shared and disputed – and sometimes hegemonic – ways of doing and talking. An evaluation of the theory and methodology used in this study shows that both assist in further developing the field of ethnomusicology(-at-home); an evaluation of the results in the light of existing research shows that they contribute to further insights into the uses and functions of music. Four areas for further research are mentioned: typologizing the uses and functions of music, musical discourses, musical subject cultures, and the place of the musical subject order of art music in contemporary society. The study ends with a description of the possible implications for conservatoires. Conservatoires are recommended to encourage students to think of their future audiences in the broadest possible terms, taking into account the wide variety of uses and functions of music figuring in the daily lives of musicking individuals. They are encouraged to make students look upon themselves (also) as service providers, and as such to be open and non-judgmental in their relationships towards the musical other. Conservatoires are recommended to translate this into their curricula by devising transformative projects in which students meet ‘musical others’, and by encouraging their students to take their possible audiences into account consciously in any musical social situation they devise or find themselves in.

Inquisitive learning as a basis for instrumental teaching:

Up until 2005 Peter Mak was involved as pedagogy teacher in the instrumental teacher education of the Bachelor of Music of the Prince Claus Conservatoire. The programme’s pedagogy section consisted of modules developed by Peter including ‘Didactics’, ‘Learning processes’, ‘Study skills’, and ‘Exceptional learners.’ These modules, all thoroughly developed and described by Peter, formed a neatly rolled-out set of tuition for the students in the programme. The content and set-up of the modules were based on the latest developments and insights in education. All modules were underpinned by authentic sources from the field and were easy to read. During the past decade Peter’s influence and ideas for the instrumental teacher education remained of great importance. As a committed colleague he was always interested to look into issues and ideas related to the curriculum and stayed an important critical friend. But possibly most distinguished was his between-the-lines plea for all present and future teachers to approach each individual learner with respect and dignity.

Dialogue and cooperation in musical partnerships : evaluation report The Operaflat, a project by Yo! Opera Festival

Yo! Opera asked the Lectorate Lifelong Learning in Music to evaluate the project The Operaflat, which was part of the fourth edition of the Yo! Opera Festival in Utrecht, in 2007. During the project primary school pupils of the public primary school ‘Openbare Basisschool Overvecht’, residents of the ‘Operaflat’, vocal and composition students of a number of Dutch conservatoires and their teachers met during the performance of 25 mini operas that lasted one minute.Purpose of the research of the lectorate was monitoring and evaluating the dialogue between students and teachers of conservatoires on the one hand and the cooperation with a professional organisation (Yo! Opera) on the other hand.