Madrid, June 3, 2021.- Throughout the month of May, the Reina Sofía School of Music and the Banco Santander Foundation have developed a project in several educational centers in Madrid a pioneering and innovative project that seeks to disseminate, bring students closer to, and motivate them to enjoy the arts through classical music. This program was born from the adaptation of the “Concert for Schoolchildren” project, which both institutions have been developing for 20 years, motivated by the restrictions established by the pandemic.
The initiative has combined the importance of innovation and the use of technologies in accessing music, with the closeness and emotion of live performances, and has included several complementary actions.
“To Music! With the 5 senses”, aimed at students between 12 and 16 years of age (from 1st to 4th year of ESO – Compulsory Secondary Education).
Immersed inside an orchestra thanks to virtual reality glasses, more than 600 young people have become familiar with the artistic and musical creation of great composers in history: “Mozart Gets Lost in the Night” (with Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), “Dancing with the Ear” (with Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances) and “Serenading with Tchaikovsky” (with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings), all performed by the Camerata Viesgo of the Reina Sofía School.
With a dynamic and attractive narrative rhythm, the contents of the virtual reality videos analyzed the works, the instruments and the feelings that are reflected in them. One Digital Consulting, experts 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 were the ones who were able to enjoy it this past month of May.
Outdoor concerts and digital content
The second activity, for children from 8 to 10 years old (from 3rd to 5th grade of primary school), has consisted of experiencing live music in the schoolyards. Students from the Reina Sofía School of Music performed in concert and explained what the pieces performed evoked, and thus, in a relaxed atmosphere, encouraged the intervention of children, achieving greater enjoyment of classical music.
The five centers that enjoyed this activity in three sessions in a row each school have been 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 officials 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.
These informative and inclusive actions for various school age groups, which bring music closer to society, create new audiences and are a reflection of the support for culture and education by the Reina Sofía School and the Banco Santander Foundation.
You can download images of the experience with virtual reality glasses at the Colegio Amorós and of the concert in the courtyard of the Francisco de Goya school in this link.
