February marked two important milestones for the AEC: the final Stakeholder Assembly of the PRIhME Project and the AEC Pop & Jazz Platform. Both events were held in Rome (Italy).

 

PRIhME – Assembly on Artistic Standards – final PRIhME Stakeholder Assembly wrap-up 

How can conservatoires balance the need to aspire to high artistic standards with overcoming power imbalances? What is the blueprint for the conservatoire of the future?

These questions and more were discussed during the final Assembly of the PRIhME project, held in mid-February at the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome, one of the project partners. Two days of discussion and exercises facilitated by Chair Gretchen Amussen and the Assembly Working Group led again to recommendations to the entire sector to address and overcome obstacles and make Higher Music Education a safer and more inclusive environment. 

The participants were informed in their discussions by two experts: Antje Kirschning who wrote a paper about power relations and misconduct and Alexandra Kertz-Welzel who wrote a paper and gave a presentation on utopian thinking within Higher Music Education. Both papers have been included in the brief prepared by the Editorial Board.

Following the assembly, the Chair of the Assembly Working Group Esther Nass and the Chair of the Editorial Board David-Emil Wickström spoke about PRIhME and its goals at the AEC Pop & Jazz Platform meeting in Rome. Their presentation was complemented by the experiences of two participants of the Assembly, Margherita Flore and Juan Camilo Vasquez Montoya from the host institution St. Louis College of Music.

More information about the project outcomes such as the recommendations for the HME sector will be shared soon. Until then, visit the PRIhME website and learn more about the topic through the four information briefs.

AEC Pop and Jazz Platform

The AEC Pop and Jazz Platform (PJP) meeting 2023 took place at the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome, Italy, from 16 to 18 February 2023 under the title “What does it mean to make it? Opening gateways to working life, internationalisation and artistry”. 

The platform’s participants were able to once again meet in person after two years of digital gatherings. The 168 participants enjoyed the usual mix of keynote speeches, open floor sessions, on-stage conversations, discussion groups and networking.

The event started with the Students’ meeting and the Pre-conference session, both organised and moderated by the PJP Working Group members. The format of the pre-conference has changed and, instead of separating into genre-based groups, the participants had the chance to discuss the 3 overarching topics of the conference:  Working Life, Internationalisation, and Artistry.

This year’s programme featured keynote sessions addressing the topic of the conference, breakout sessions and the open floor presentations proposed by the participants. The conference programme also included a presentation of the project on power relations called PRIhME – Power Relations in Higher Music Education, funded as an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership. In addition, participants had the chance to enjoy performances organised by St. Louis College in Rome.

On Sunday 19th February, another edition of the conference for vocal teachers – VoCon – was organised. VoCon is a platform for the exchange of best practices among Jazz, Pop and all other interested teachers and students in higher music education. Vocal department students kicked off the day with performances before the programme continued with presentations.

Click to read the full programme of PJP and VoCon and check out the pictures from the event here.

AEC would like to warmly thank everyone who made this platform gathering possible, particularly the St. Louis College of Music in Rome and the PJP Working Group members, all of the speakers and all the participants who have attended the meeting. A special thank you also to the two members leaving the PJP Working Group – Anna Uhuru (UK), and Linda Bloemhard (The Netherlands) who acted as Chair of the group in her last mandate.

The next edition of the Pop and Jazz Platform will take place at the Syddansk Musikkonservatorium (SDMK) – Danish National Academy of Music in Odense, Denmark from 8 to 11 February 2024.