- The Reina Sofía School of Music reinvents the Concert Series for Schoolchildren, which it has been running for 20 years in collaboration with the Banco Santander Foundation, to adapt to the restrictions of Covid-19.
- 10 public and subsidized schools and institutes are participating in the pilot project that will take place in May 2021 in the Community of Madrid.
- 650 young people aged 12-16 will participate in the “To Music! With the 5 senses” experience, with virtual reality glasses.
- 600 children aged 8-10 will enjoy open-air concerts in the schoolyards.
Madrid, May 6, 2021.- “Concerts for Schoolchildren”, a program that seeks to disseminate, bring closer and motivate students from educational centers to enjoy the arts through classical music, is aimed at all primary, secondary and baccalaureate education centers in the Community of Madrid, and has the participation of more than 4,000 young people each year who enjoy a great musical experience in a prestigious professional hall, in the National Music Auditorium of Madrid.
As a result of the restrictions and security measures adopted in the educational community in the fight against covid 19, this year “Concerts for Schoolchildren” could not be developed under the same conditions as in previous years, which is why both the Reina Sofia School and the Banco Santander Foundation, sponsors of the project, have designed a new concept. It will be the music, both virtually and live, that approaches the schools of Madrid.
This adaptation of the pedagogical cycle will feature several complementary actions that combine the importance of innovation and the use of technologies in accessing music, with the closeness and emotion of live performances.
The first is the “To Music! With the 5 senses” experience, from which more than 650 students between the ages of 12 and 16 (from 1st to 4th year of ESO) will benefit. Young people will become familiar with the artistic and musical creation of great composers in history through a virtual reality experience in which they will be immersed in a series of educational videos performed by the Camerata Viesgo of the School: “Mozart Gets Lost in the Night” (with Mozart’s Little Night Serenade), “Dancing with the Ear” (with Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances) and “Serenading with Tchaikovsky” (with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings).
With a concise, dynamic and attractive narrative rhythm, the contents of the virtual reality videos will offer the keys to understanding and analyzing the works, the instruments and the feelings that are reflected in them. Carlos Ochoa from One Digital Consulting, an expert in virtual reality applied to education, and Fernando Palacios, pedagogue and musical educator, have participated in its production.
Students from the IES El Espinillo, the IES Lope de Vega, the Padre Piquer Training Center, the Amorós School and the Brot School will live this experience in this month of May.
The second activity of the “Concerts for Schoolchildren” project will consist of a series of open-air concerts for children aged 8 to 10 (from 3rd to 5th grade of primary school), with live music in the schoolyards, performed by students of the Reina Sofía School of Music. The musical performances will be interspersed with explanations, in a relaxed atmosphere that will encourage the intervention of children, thus achieving a greater enjoyment of classical music.
The five centers that will enjoy this activity in three sessions in a row per school are the CEIP Francisco de Goya, the CEIP Legado Crespo, the CEIP Manuel Núñez de Arenas, the Colegio Sagrado Corazón and the CEIP Luis Bello, reaching more than 600 students.
As a third action of the cycle, audiovisual pedagogical content has been distributed to more than 650 music teachers and school principals in the Community of Madrid. The students have these new work tools that combine videos and didactic guides to expand their knowledge in the classroom.
Informative and inclusive actions for all school age groups, which bring music closer to society, create new audiences and reflect the support for culture and education by the Reina Sofía School and the Banco Santander Foundation.
