Barratt-Due Institute of Music

The Barratt Due Institute of Music was founded in 1927 by the pianist Mary Barratt Due and the violinist Henrik Due. It has now played a central role in music education in Norway for more than 80 years. Drawing on a more continental frame of reference than usually found in Norway, children, young people and adult students are taught under the same roof, inspired by the founders' motto: From Music Kindergarten to the Concert Podium.Barratt Due is the only music institution left in Norway with learning and education programmes for children, youth and adults all under the same roof. Dedicated professors and professional musicians offers the very best in your education, and talents of all ages interact on several levels in various ensembles and orchestras. We believe this structure produces a learning environment of considerable value to talents of any age.Barratt Due wishes to create an environment fostering the expansive development of young musicians. Becoming a musician demands intense work from every individual involved, from an early stage on. This requires a great deal of self-discipline, since most of the work has to be undertaken alone, in the practice-room. At the same time it is important to learn how music is a language that communicates both to an audience as well as between musicians. With these concerns as our priorities, we put performance at the centre of our activities through concerts, and creating different possibilities for chamber music, ensembles and orchestra.Music knows no age barriers, only recognises degrees of quality. Barratt Due thus provides its students with an unparalleled opportunity to engage with challenges at their own musical level while, at the same time, being able to socialise with people of their own age. Hence, "Learning by doing" becomes the natural principle: Pupils play together with older students, students play together with professional performers of the highest calibre - and so on. We hope to have created a cultural centre where music as an art form becomes the natural centre of all activities, independent of often unnaturally created age-barriers.Six orchestras and several ensembles currently prepare and execute challenging music programmes which result in about 130 concert productions per year. Through these activities Barratt Due offers one of the most unique and inspiring artistic environments in Norway.