An Instrument for Every Child
Ruhr Metropolis, over 50 concerts
Children playing music / Photo: "An Instrument for Every Child" Foundation
Music has power. The programme known as "An Instrument for Every Child" is growing and growing. It began in 2003 as an initiative organised by the Zukunftsstiftung Bildung and the music school in Bochum, and is now what is believed to be the largest cultural educational project in Germany.
Indeed, almost every corner of the Ruhr Metropolis resounds with young musicians and their instruments. They're playing in marketplaces, school halls and municipal venues - performing more than 50 concerts, these musical youngsters will continue to enthral audiences during the entire Capital of Culture year.
The European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 offered the perfect reason for the Federal Cultural Foundation, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Zukunftsstiftung Bildung to extend "An Instrument for Every Child" throughout the Ruhr Metropolis. An ambitious goal, because the intention is that all 170,000 primary school children in the region will be given the opportunity to take part. After 2010 the ongoing programme is to be extended to the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
During their first year at school, the children sing together as an enjoyable way of learning about basic elements of music such as melody and rhythm. They will then learn about instruments like the violin and recorder, trombone, French horn, mandolin and the baglama from Turkey. Through these musical instruments they can explore the formal principles of music, inspiring them to take up an instrument themselves. From the second year of primary school, the children will be loaned the instrument of their choice to enable them to take lessons and practice at home.
The "An Instrument for Every Child" Foundation works in partnership with Chorakademie am Konzerthaus Dortmund e.V. The objective of the collaboration is to increase singing as an additional form of artistic expression alongside the learning of an instrument as part of the curriculum and, in so doing, to broaden children’s cultural experience. The pilot phase was launched in the spring at six music schools in the Ruhr.
All year:
Ruhr Metropolis (over 50 concerts)
Organising body: "An Instrument for Every Child" Foundation
Initiators: Federal Cultural Foundation, the Minister-President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Zukunftsstiftung Bildung in der GLS Treuhand e.V.
For further information, please visit:
www.jedemkind.de