The world of classical music is constantly evolving, and the recent enCORE Accelerando event in Budapest, Hungary, showcased some of the most innovative ideas and projects shaping the future of the genre. Organised by JM International, the global event, which took place from 3-6 June 2023, brought together young classical musicians from 11 countries to present their groundbreaking ideas.
Two prominent figures who used the EU SMART Composer resources during the enCORE Accelerando event were Marta Lozano Molano from Wazo Coop and Omar Sharhyar from RESEO. Both acted as coaches, guiding the participants as they developed their ideas and presented them to a professional jury.
The enCORE Accelerando event culminated in the participants presenting their elevator pitches at the Bach 2 Future event at Müpa Budapest. This event aimed to inform professionals and institutions about future trends in classical music. The jury, which included Marta Lozano Molano, awarded three phenomenal projects that showcased innovative approaches to classical music.
In conclusion, the EU SMART Composer project, with its emphasis on practical tools and skills development, has played a key role in shaping the future of classical music. The enCORE Accelerando event in Budapest was a testament to the success of the project, with young talents such as Marta Lozano Molano and Omar Sharhyar leading the way.
We are entering the final stretch of the project with important new developments.
First of all, we are happy that the project has been extended in time and we will be able to further develop our methodology and tools.
Secondly, we would like to tell you about our transt¡national meeting that took place on the 4th and 5th of May in Cáceres (Spain).
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?
As you know, EU SMART Composer is a biannual Erasmus + project that is developing a practical tool to facilitate knowledge transfer between music teachers and their students to improve their employability.
The international consortium behind EU SMART Composer consists of Coompanion Göteborg ek. för (Sweden), the coordinating entity, Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative (Italy), Abbaye aux Dames – La cite musicale-Saintes (France),Le Laba(France), RESEO– European Network for Opera and Dance Education (Belgium) and Wazo Coop -Social cooperative (Spain).
From September 12th to 17th we held our LTTA in the impressive city of Matera (Italy), each organization we had the pleasure to invite several people from our different countries to receive the training that we had finished developing and defining in our previous Transnational meeting, held in Saintes (France).
Our guests (trainees) were going to become a fundamental element of our project, since their relationship with musical composition, their professional background and their different points of view, would be decisive to improve our methodology.
Since then we have had multiple online working sessions where we started to prepare our practical tool in the form of a transmedia manual. Our meeting in Caceres was the ideal place to finish defining our objectives.
First of all, WAZO COOP hosted us in the wonderful city of Caceres (in Extremadura), a place full of heritage and cultural life. Wazo is also in charge of the communication of the project, and was able to present to the other partners the results achieved by EU SMART COMPOSER on the website and social networks.
There was also space to talk about the event that would take place the next day (the Meet Up of Cultur Coop, a project developed by Wazo Coop and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture). In this event EU SMART COMPOSER, would be presented as an example of good practice and would be the ideal place to hold the Multiplier Event in Spain.
COOMPANION was in charge of leading the meeting, and we had the opportunity to make an exhaustive review of our achieved objectives and the work that is still in progress. COOMPANION also gave us the good news that we will have a final EU SMART COMPOSER event in September in Goteborg (Sweden).
MATERAHUB, on the other hand, informed us about the latest developments of the transmedia manual, where they informed us about the progress in the drafting of the manual, the innovative ideas they have on how to turn it into a useful and effective transmedia tool.
RESEO was in charge of facilitating a coherence between our first steps (the framework) and the manual, so that all the competences we consider essential are materialised in the final tool.
ABBAYE AUX DAMES and LE LABA, were in charge of including the learning acquired by all of us during the training period we developed in Matera, making sure that the training modules had space and weight in the manual.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Our next steps are to finalise the development and publication of the handbook, as well as to hold various multiplier events in our home countries.
We will also have the opportunity to meet again in September in Gothenburg (Sweden) for our final event!
We are pleased to present the series of three Webinars that we have developed from EU Smart Composer. In these three webinars, we have had the pleasure of chatting with experts, focused on acquiring skills and knowledge in the world of classical composition.
They have addressed topics such as entrepreneurship and motivation, cross-cutting issues such as inclusion and climate change and the importance of networking in young composers.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset
Wednesday 8 June 14:00 – 15:30 CET
The first webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, hosted by RESEO (Belgium) and Wazo Coop (Spain) will explore the concept of composer entrepreneurs and their motivation. Participants will hear composer and activist Marta Lozano Molano share her experience of pioneering composer entrepreneurship in Spain, and will examine how the Social Economy Model of enterprise could revolutionise our industry to become both more profitable and more sustainable. (Language: English)
Cross-cutting issues: Gender, Inclusion and Climate Change
Wednesday 15th June 14:00 – 15:30 CET
The second webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, presented by MateraHub (Italy) and Coompanion (Sweden), will explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and cross-cutting issues such as inclusion and climate change. Guest speakers Dr. Michelle Phillips from the Royal Northern College of Music (UK) and composer and intendant Bernard Foccroulle (France) will share their experiences of how artist entrepreneurs can engage with these issues, giving participants insight into the opportunities and influences to be sought in a challenging industry. (Language: English)
Networking for Composers
Wednesday 22 June 14:00 – 15:30 CET
The third webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, presented by La LABA (France) and l’Abbaye aux Dames (France), will highlight networking and its value for contemporary classical composers. In examining cutting-edge theory alongside the practical experiences of composer entrepreneurs, participants will better understand how, where and – crucially – why to network for better opportunities. (Language: English)
About EU Smart Composer
EU SMART Composer is an Erasmus+ programme to develop a methodology to support VET Music Educators in their teaching to music students who compose new music.
EU SMART Composer practical tool will facilitate VET Music Educator-Music Students knowledge transfer to improve their employability.
EU Smart Composer is a two-year strategic partnership project funded by the Erasmus+ programme that brings together six European partners to explore music education and composition methodologies for educators as well as the branding, digital marketing and entrepreneurship skills that are necessary for young composers today.
Society has changed significantly over the past decade. Music students study harmony and creative techniques to compose new music during their studies at music institutions, while composers are expected to meet with orchestras and ensembles etc interested in commissioning a piece of music.
The Smart Composer project aims to help composers upskill in order to foster their employability and the sustainability of their projects.
EU Smart Composer invites you to participate in a series of Webinars to learn more about social entrepreneurship, networking and cooperation for composers.
Wednesday 8 June 14:00 – 15:30 CET
The first webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, hosted by RESEO (Belgium) and Wazo Coop (Spain), will examine the concept of composer entrepreneurs and their motivation. Participants will hear composer and activist Marta Lozano Molano share her experience of pioneering composer entrepreneurship in Spain, and will examine how the Social Economy Model of enterprise could revolutionise our industry to become both more profitable and more sustainable. (Language: English)
Cross-cutting issues: Gender, Inclusion and Climate Change
Wednesday 15th June 14:00 – 15:30 CET
The second webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, presented by MateraHub (Italy) and Coompanion (Sweden), will explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and cross-cutting issues such as inclusion and climate change. Guest speakers Dr. Michelle Phillips from the Royal Northern College of Music (UK) and composer and intendant Bernard Foccroulle (France) will share their experiences of how artist entrepreneurs can engage with these issues, giving participants insight into the opportunities and influences to be sought in a challenging industry. (Language: English)
The third webinar in the EU SMART Composer series, presented by Le LABA (France) and l’Abbaye aux Dames (France), will highlight networking and its value for contemporary classical composers. In examining cutting-edge theory alongside the practical experiences of composer entrepreneurs, participants will better understand how, where and – crucially – why to network for better opportunities. (Language: English)
Smart Composer is a two-year strategic partnership project funded by the Erasmus+ programme that brings together six European partners to explore music education and composition methodologies for educators as well as the branding, digital marketing and entrepreneurship skills that are necessary for young composers today.
Society has changed significantly over the past decade. Music students study harmony and creative techniques to compose new music during their studies at music institutions, while composers are expected to meet with orchestras and ensembles etc interested in commissioning a piece of music.
The Smart Composer project aims to help composers upskill in order to foster their employability and the sustainability of their projects.
The transnational meeting of the EU SMART COMPOSER project took place on 30-31 March at the Abbaye Aux Dames in Saintes, France.
EU SMART COMPOSER is a biannual Erasmus + project that is developing a practical tool to facilitate knowledge transfer between music teachers and their students to improve their employability.
The international consortium behind EU SMART Composer consists of Coompanion Göteborg ek. för (Sweden), the coordinating entity, Consorzio Materahub Industrie Culturali e Creative (Italy), Abbaye aux Dames – Lacite musicale-Saintes (France), Le Laba (France), RESEO– European Network for Opera and Dance Education (Belgium) and Wazo Coop (Spain).
The activities, in an informal way, started on the afternoon of Tuesday 30th March with a meeting of all the people who were going to be present at the following two days of meetings. During the meeting, there was the opportunity to meet in person some participants who did not have the opportunity to visit Saintes at the previous meeting held in September, as well as to thoroughly plan the work plan.
Of course, we had the opportunity to meet again the wonderful building of the Abbaye aux Dames, a place where heritage and music can be breathed in every corner.
The morning of 30 March began with a general introduction to the evolution of the project and with the focus on the work of Train of Trainers that was to take place during the stay in Saintes.
Omar Shahryar from the RESEO organisation began to work on the content of the first Train of Trainers module, which consisted of an explanation of the project itself, as well as the welcome and the methodology that will be provided to the future Trainers.
The morning session continued to develop with different processes of co-creation of the content, a tone that would be maintained throughout the meeting.
On Wednesday afternoon, Abbaye aux Dames and Le Laba were in charge of developing the second module «Branding and Marketing», led by music branding expert Emily Gonneau and supported by Antoine Zenoni. It was an excellent opportunity to learn first-hand about the needs and challenges of future composers in the music industry and market, always from a social point of view.
The next day, the 31st of March, started with the presentation of module 2 «Empowerment and leadership» by Coompanion, led by Ebba Westerberg and Björn Granat. An interesting and interactive session, where the possibilities of empowerment and its importance in building a solid career for composers were investigated.
The last afternoon session was led by José Luis Díaz from Wazo Coop, Roberta Capozucca and Carlo Ferreti from Matera Hub. The corresponding module was «Cooperative Entrepreneurship», where in addition to developing the theme and talking about the benefits and resilience of the Social Economy, there was the opportunity to co-create a series of very useful tools for teachers and students.
We also had the online presence of Diana Ghinea from Coompanion, Marta Lozano Molano from Wazo Coop and Mikko Laamanen from Reseo.
Undoubtedly an intense but extremely productive meeting, the results of which will be put into practice next September in Matera (Italy).
