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THE STUDY’S AIMS
Music education has become an integral
part of the European and International
concert scene. Staged concerts for children,
workshop series with musicians
and collaborations sponsored by educational
institutions are well established
forms for orchestras and concert halls.
They signal the increasing ambition of arts
administrators and cultural institutions
to take responsibility for the musical
education of children and adolescents.
The two foundations Stiftung Mozarteum
Salz burg and Robert Bosch Stif tung
jointly initiated a study to collect and
analyse the quality of music education
offered by orchestras and concert organisers.
The aim was to identify internationally
comparable quality criteria and
quality attributes and to develop recommendations
to support education managers
and music educators when reflecting
about their work. The study also wanted
to contribute to improving the quality of
music education projects and the discussions
about it.
METHOD
The assessment of the current state of
music education in German speaking
countries was based on the findings of
Susanne Keuchel. We then conducted 40
guided interviews with selected education
managers and music educators from
orchestras and concert halls in Germany,
Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, Lux -
em burg, France, Spain, Portugal and the
USA. The questions mainly focused on
the structural context of ensembles and
concert halls, the professional back-
ground of education managers and the
quality criteria that define their work.
An expert conference half way through
the study reflected on the insights gained
and improved the systematic framework
of the data. Based on the findings, five
examples of best practice were selected
and featured in a film documentary. Finally,
the data collected were used to
complete the study.
SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS
Quality is not determined by a single
parameter, but depends on structures,
people and process. The quality of music
education work depends on a number of
factors such as the local organisational
structure, the charisma and experience
of education managers and music educators,
the artistic qualities of ensembles
and cultural workers, the attitude of cooperating
partners and more. In the study,
certain parameters that were directly
relevant to, and influenced the work of,
all interviewees, were identified. These
parameters can be used as a framework to
describe the quality of goal orientation,
structure, conceptual process and product.
Goals in music education generally
refer to creating a solid basis for educational
and artistic work in orchestras and
concert halls as well as the desire to affect
the city or region and to approach new
target groups.
These goals define the form music education
takes (e.g. concerts for children
or workshops in schools, youth centres
or hospitals). The form can then be defined
by the following three qualities:
> structural quality: gives information
about in-house collaboration, funding,
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project management, audience development,
evaluation and feedback as
well as collaboration with cultural and
educational institutions
> process quality: determines the artistic
and educational concept and enables
audience participation
> product quality: assesses the artistic
and educational achievement and the
degree of innovative and experimental
content
The study also analyses the formal education
and professional experience of education
managers and music educators,
the characteristics of the institutions
they work in and the schemes currently
prevalent in music education in Europe.
RECOMMENDATIONS
All conversations and interviews with experts
and other participants conducted
during the research demonstrate that
support from management is the decisive
factor when establishing music education
projects in an institution. Education
managers and music educators need to
promote their work internally (to all staff
of orchestras and concert halls) as well
as externally (to the general public) to
ensure that both stakeholder groups are
kept well informed about the music education’s
artistic ambitions and projects.
Active support by management lends
substance to the department’s concerns
and goals.
In most European countries, orchestras
and concert organisers have recognised
their special responsibility as new partners
in cultural education to reach out to
people who before would never have