Music in Schools: Setting the Tone

The Philharmonie fills the education system with harmony in many different ways

Tatjana Mehner

Schools are always an important social topic. Charged with reflecting society and preparing students for life, schools are the subject of thousands of jokes and anecdotes, reports and philosophical theories. Beloved and feared in equal measure, and quite independently of many other social factors, they influ-ence people, opening up other possibilities, horizons, approaches other than those that one’s background might suggest. Put simply, schools convey not merely knowledge, but also social education. This has (once again) become a major, worldwide issue due to the pandemic, one from which the Philhar-monie – which has always enjoyed close collaboration with the Grand Duchy’s educational institutions – does not shy away.

Music is fun and part of a general education, and making and listening to music have effects far beyond the experience itself, fostering learning capabilities and personality development. Music is always best when experienced together… however, what happens when this communal experience has to be cur-tailed?

Despite all contact limitations and distancing rules, a broad range of education offerings has been presented in schools during the past months. Almost as in the proverb about the prophet going to the mountain, new and reconceived listening and interactive formats were delivered to real-life and virtual classrooms by digital means. The OPL Bus, for example, which toured the country on summer weekends, bringing concerts to streets and parks, also began stopping in school playgrounds on weekdays…

Streamed concerts and other digital music offerings, also part of a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, have become a welcome part of school curricula and will not disappear from our daily lives after the pandemic – even if the enthusiasm for communal listening experiences, both in the concert hall and in the numerous workshops and projects which OPL musicians or guest artists have brought to Luxembourg’s schools, is enormous for all those involved. Offering a comprehensive programme via all its «channels», the Philharmonie will continue its exemplary work in schools.