Status of Arts Education within UNESCO's Priorities - Online Petition initiated by Yvette Hardy, South Africa

Ensure Creativity remains a UNESCO priority!
It has been widely recognized that creativity is the vital ingredient that needs to be cultivated if we are all to survive and flourish in this 21st Century.

"Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status" says noted educationalist, Ken Robinson. One of the best ways to nurture creativity is through arts education, something which should be available to every child. Creativity is urgently needed to promote economic, social and cultural development and to generate solutions to the numerous challenges facing the world today.

UNESCO has been busy analyzing and ranking the areas of their work by priority, with those areas that receive the lowest ranking being marked for elimination. The Creativity programme, within which arts education falls, was ranked at the very bottom of UNESCO's 48 priority areas and is at risk of elimination. If this happens, UNESCO's invaluable work in this area, including the Road Map for Arts Education, the World Conferences for Arts Education, the International Arts Education week, and all the other projects related to both arts education and creativity in the broadest sense, will be terminated and will no longer receive support. An additional consequence will be to give our governments yet another excuse to de-prioritise Arts Education and to deny both promotion of and access to the arts for children and young people.

However, this situation is not hopeless, if action is taken. When the Member States meet at the November General Conference of UNESCO, they will be the ultimate decision makers. If we can convince our national delegations that creativity should be accorded a higher ranking, we can prevent it from being eliminated.

We urge you to sign this petition requesting, in the strongest terms, that UNESCO keeps Creativity and Arts Education as a fundamental priority within its work. We also ask you to contact the National Commissions of UNESCO within your own countries to express your urgent concern about the future of creativity as a priority within UNESCO programming, to seek their advice and to ask them to co-operate.

A list of National Commissions, including the names and contact information of current Presidents/Chairs and Secretary-Generals can be found at the following site: http://www.unesco.org/nac/index.php?lc=E&module=national_commissions&showall=1

Thank you for being a part of this critical movement
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Ensure_Creativity_remains_a_UNESCO_priority/?tTqfFfb

Sent by Avaaz on behalf of Yvette's petition

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Dr. Ernst Wagner

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg

UNESCO-Lehrstuhl Kulturelle Bildung

Koordination der Lehrstuhlaktivitäten

 

Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

UNESCO Chair in Arts and Culture in Education

Executive Coordinator

 

Bismarckstr. 1 a, R. 2.024, D-91023 Erlangen

+49 160 845 07 99

ernst.wagner@paed.phil.uni-erlangen.de

 

 

 

The ISME website is now powered by Google Translate!

The ISME website is now powered by Google Translate and speaks many
more languages (besides the language of MUSIC!!!!)

We know that automatic translation can never be perfect, but did you
know that you could help improve it? Google translate is accepting
suggestions (for more information see:
http://translate.google.com/manager/website/suggestions).

Spread the word!!!

[Health and Wellness SIG] News

ISME Musicians' Health and Wellness

Special Interest Group

We want to notify the ISME membership of these upcoming meetings devoted to the topic of musicians' health and wellness taking place around the world.  Add these events to your calendar and if you are available, we hope you will choose to attend.

 

October 26, 2013	11th Symposium Swiss Association for Music Medicine  Zurich, Switzerland www.musik-medizin.ch info@musik-medizin.ch
January 26-February 2, 2014	Havana, Cuba Health and Safety in the Arts Program www.artsmed.org/cubaprogram
February 8-9, 2014	PAMA (Performing Arts Medicine Association) Regional Meeting Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, Canada Music...Movement...Mood www.artsmed.org
March 7-9, 2014	PAMA (Performing Arts Medicine Association) Regional Meeting University of South Florida Tampa, FL   USA FREE to PLAY www.cme.hsc.usf.edu/freetoplay
March 21, 2014	PAMA (Performing Arts Medicine Association) Regional Meeting Chicago Downtown Marriott Hotel Chicago, IL USA www.artsmed.org
March 22, 2014	MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) and PAMA  Pedagogy Saturday MTNA National Conference "A Pioneering Partnership to Keep Musicians Performing" Chicago Downtown Marriott Hotel Chicago, IL  USA www.mtna.org

 

World Voice Bulletin Vol. 2

 

 

Dear colleagues,

 

As autumn and the new term have arrived we wanted to update you about some exciting developments in the World Voice programme.  There may have been a heat wave this summer, but the team have been working hard to expand the project and introduce the concept of learning through song to children around the globe.

 

 

Artistic Director Richard Frostick travels to India to begin the legacy work following his week of workshops in March.

 

We start the search for 10 UK-based Master Trainers to take part in two days of training Cardiff, with a view to increasing our capacity here in the UK and overseas.

 

Three more countries join the World Voice family for 2013/14.  We're delighted to welcome Ethiopia, Argentina and Sudan into the fold.

 

Research underway in Chile and Jordan to investigate how World Voice might effectively be rolled out in these countries.

 

 

India and Senegal

You may remember from our last bulletin that the project's next step was to return to India and Senegal, to build upon our work there.  World Voice Artistic Director, Richard Frostick has just come back from a legacy visit to India where he and India World Voice Champion, Mohit Chauhan, worked with a selection of teachers from state and private schools.  Richard trained teachers in the techniques which were so successfully used with Indian school children earlier in the year.  Both Mohit and Richard were excited to see the enthusiasm with which the project has continued to be greeted (check out pictures on the British Council's Music team's new website when it goes live later this month). 

 

Richard will be returning to India once more in early October, when he will support new trainers as they begin to roll out the programme. Meanwhile, the Senegal team are planning their own legacy visit, as Richard will travelling to Dakar at the end of October / beginning of November.

 

UK Master Trainers

If we can find a single fault with our marvellous Artistic Director, Richard, it's that there is only one of him.  His legacy trips to countries ensure that techniques and skills are passed on to teachers who can act as in-country trainers, enabling them to communicate the skills they have learnt.  Through training teachers to be trainers thousands of young people in the countries we work with will have access to new learning methods. 

 

Back in the UK, Richard and the World Voice team are looking for ten UK-based Master Trainers (from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) to form a team of UK Master Trainers.  Those invited to be part of the team will take part in a two-day training workshop in Cardiff.  As further funding is secured, these Master Trainers will go out into their regions, and potentially overseas, to train other teachers as World Voice expands. This will ensure we continue to cascade the learning and resources from this programme, bringing World Voice to more young people in the UK and abroad.

 

Three new World Voice countries

The World Voice team are enormously pleased to be working with teachers and pupils in three new countries in 2013/14.  Continuing the programme's Overseas Development Assistance focus, Bridget Whyte, our project manager, has just returned from a scoping trip to Ethiopia, while Sudan and Argentina are making preparations for our first visits.  We are also thrilled to announce that Seleshi Demissie (aka Gash Aberra Molla) will be our Ethiopia World Voice Champion.

 

Research in Chile and Jordan

Before we start work in Jordan, and indeed in other Middle Eastern countries, we need to explore methods of working and ways to approach schools and ministries that are most effective in these areas. We have therefore commissioned research to be undertaken, and it is likely that Richard will be running workshops in Jordanian schools and possibly Syrian refugee camps near the Jordanian-Syrian border in 2014.

 

World Voice will arrive in Chile in mid-2014 allowing time for the Chilean national elections to have taken place and any changes in administration to have settled in.  Research is currently underway to ensure that when work does begin we have involvement from all relevant partners and can fulfil the programme's potential in this region.

 

Other countries we are talking to include Bangladesh, Brazil and Burma – with an aim to have started work in at least 15 countries by 2015 (and we promise to make sure we don't just work in countries beginning with the letter B!)

 

The World Voice Songbook

Here in the UK one of the most important elements and assets of our work is the World Voice Songbook.  As well as collecting songs from the countries we work with – focusing on children's traditional songs in native languages, we need to ensure that all countries of the United Kingdom are represented within this virtual book.

 

Over the next few months we will be adding at least two Welsh and Northern Irish songs.  Through conversations with key partners we hope to record these songs and exhibit them on the British Council Schools Online website: http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/projects-and-resources/world-voice by the end of October.

 

 

As we continue to expand this exciting programme we would welcome your ongoing support and advice. If you have a moment to feedback on the news stories above and / or some of these questions below we'd really appreciate it.

 

?         Have you used any of the World Voice songs or resources yet?  If so, what was the outcome and/or what comments would you like to make to help us going forward?

?         How do you think the British Council could help you link with schools overseas through song more effectively?

?         What do you think of World Voice's online presence?  Do you feel there is anything missing from the Schools Online World Voice songs and resources section?

 

 

We hope you will want to continue to support our work through receiving these bulletins and providing us with feedback.

 

Happy New School Year!

 

Hannah (World Voice Administrator) and the World Voice team

 

 

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[SISTEMA] Submissions for the World conference in Brazil 20 to 25 July 2014

Dear colleagues,

Great news! The Conference Organising Committee has extended the
deadline for submissions to November 1st. Visit
http://www.isme.org/isme2014 to find out more.

The ISME Sistema Special Interest Group already has considerable
interest, (see below), but we would be delighted if there were even
more submissions as presentations or posters.

Four symposia are being submitted as mentioned in my previous news
updates. These are:

1. A symposium centred around Social Inclusion;

2. A symposium centred around pedagogy: The principles and practices
of pedagogy in El Sistema programmes

3. A symposium asking the question: Is there a place for Sistema in
indigenous communities? and

4. A symposium drawing on National identity – how can we learn from
each other internationally?

I have received one request asking whether someone would like to
convene a symposium around integrated papers on Sistema research. Now
that the deadline has been extended, let me know if you would be
willing to take this on and I will put those colleagues in touch with
each other. (I would be prepared to do this, but as I have already
made one symposium submission, it would probably be better if someone
else was prepared to lead on this. As it is, I am not sure whether the
Conference Organising Committee would prefer more symposia (fingers
crossed that the above 4 get accepted) or whether further papers would
be more likely to be accepted if submitted individually. I have sent
an email asking this question and will let you know the outcome of
that enquiry).

I have already received some suggestions regarding a possible social
event for those interested in Sistema – more news nearer the time.

Thank you too to those colleagues who have informed me that they are
unable to attend the conference. I will still keep you updated
regarding what is happening and will send some sort of update
following the conference so that you are kept as informed as possible.
Of course, if you change your mind, conference booking takes place
next year – it is only the submissions of presentations and posters
that must be completed by November 1st to enable the conference
programme to be organised.

With all good wishes

Richard J Hallam MBE
mobile 07850 634 239
phone 01908 690078
www.dickhallam.co.uk

EMCY newsletter

EMCY is back after the summer break and we already have lots to report in our September newsletter!  For more regular updates follow EMCY also on Facebook.

Missed something? Here is the news from the last month!

Standing Ovation for Nenad Ivovic at Lunchtime Recital in Eindhoven

Three More Competitions Join EMCY

Come Together in Zurich for Swiss Young Jazz Rock&Pop Talents

Prize Winners of the Prémio Jovens Músicos

Prize Winners of the International Competition for Violin, Kloster Schöntal

Returning from the Summer Break with a New Volunteer

Upcoming EMCY Member Competitions

21-30 September 2013, Moscow (Russia) Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition

28 October- 08 November 2013, Weimar (Germany) International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists

10 November 2013, Luxembourg Concours Luxembourgeois pour Jeunes Solistes & European Competition for Young Soloists

20-22 November 2013, Nizna (Slovakia) Magic Flute - EMCY Slovakia

21-24 November 2013, Málaga (Spain) Concurso Permanente de Jóvenes Intérpretes

22-23 November 2013, Oslo (Norway) Ungdommens Musikkmesterskap

Upcoming application deadlines

7 October 2013 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists

7 October 2013 Concurso Permanente de Jóvenes Intérpretes

11 October 2013 Concours Luxembourgeois pour Jeunes Solistes & European Competition for Young Soloists

11 October 2013 International Radio Competition for Young Musicians 'Concertino Praga'

15 November 2013 International Competition of Young Pianists dedicated to the Work of 'Fryderyk Chopin'

15 November 2013 Jugend musiziert

01 December 2013 International Vladimir Krainev Young Pianists Competition

15 December 2013 Smetana International Piano Competition

20 December 2013 International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz

20 December 2013 Schweizerischer Jugendmusikwettbewerb

6 January 2014 TEMSIG - Slovenian Music Competition for Youth

New Prize Winners on emcy.org

From Anna Amalia Competition for Young Guitarists Pavle Filipovic

From EMCY Slovakia (Iuventus Canti) Slavka Zamecnikova

From Competition of the United Music and Dance Teachers of Macedonia Stefan Volchevski

From International Competition for Young Pianists 'A Step Towards Mastery' Nenad Ivovic

From Competition of the United Music and Dance Teachers of Macedonia Naomi Georgievska

From International Competition for Young Pianists 'A Step Towards Mastery' Nikolay Kuznetsov

From International Competition for Young Musicians 'Ohrid Pearls' Ana Kalicanin

Discover more about us at emcy.org! Never miss again another EMCY post on Facebook! Simply go to the EMCY wall, click the 'like' button and select 'Get Notifications'!

EMCY is a member of the International Music Council and European Music Council.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This Publication reflects the views of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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