Student project: Children's concert series

The Children's Concert Series project is coming to an end and it is time for me to reflect on what this project has meant for the students who have participated, myself as project manager and, not least, for the audience we have had visiting us over the past two years. I myself missed having a subject that focused on concerts for children when I took my bachelor's degree at the Norwegian Academy of Music. As a master's student, I was therefore very happy to take over the baton from Johanna Orellana and Susanne Trinh, the students who prepared the project application and ran the Children's Concert Series in the first year. Taking over a project that others have started can be both reassuring and nerve-wracking. It was nerve-wracking to think that previous project managers could have managed it in a different and perhaps better way, while it gave me a sense of security that the project had a solid foundation that I could build on. I also had good support from CEMPE and John Vinge, Associate Professor of Music Education, who acted as both supervisor and researcher in the project.

During the guidance sessions, several of the students expressed that they found it "a bit scary" to play concerts for children. It was unfamiliar to have to let themselves loose on stage, take on a role, or communicate directly with the audience. - "But what if they answer me? What should I say then?" one student asked, clearly worried about the response the student would get from the children. It seemed that a lack of knowledge about how children are and behave, combined with the fact that they themselves had to take on a role on stage to communicate in a different way, meant that many of the students found the concert form intimidating. For many of the students, playing a concert for children was simply a new way of thinking about concerts, completely different from what they were used to doing.

An important element of the Children's Concert Series has been for students to gain knowledge about the dissemination and creation of music for children by testing out ideas and receiving guidance from competent performers, educators and art mediators. The students who wanted to take part in the project sent an application to me as project manager, and those who were selected received two hours of tuition with an internal or external supervisor. As project manager, I invited kindergartens to concerts at NMH so that the students had an audience to practice on. The supervisor followed up with the students before the concert and evaluated the concert afterwards together with the students. In addition, several of the ensembles held concerts that were open to the public, sometimes in external venues such as a Deichman library, while in the last year we held the concerts at the Academy. It was particularly nice to invite children to NMH for concerts, so that more people could get to know our building and experience that NMH also offers concerts for children.

For several of the students, participating in the Children's Concert Series has filled a gap in their education and given them experience of what has become a key concert form in recent years. Festivals in all genres now have children's programs, and we're seeing more people producing children's concerts in both large and small formats. I believe that students become more attractive in the job market when they have gained experience of playing music for children during their studies. The students have had to put together a repertoire they thought was suitable for the age group, or create a story adapted for children around an already rehearsed repertoire. They have also had to learn to think about everything outside the concert itself, such as lighting, sound, use of the venue, communication with the audience and how to perform in front of a somewhat unpredictable audience. With good feedback and tips and advice from supervisors, the concerts have turned out very well and have gradually become very well attended. The students have also been able to expand their network by getting to know supervisors they would not otherwise meet in their everyday studies.

As a project manager, I've been lucky enough to gain experience in a growing part of the music industry. I have gained valuable experience in organization and management, booking venues, collaboration with producers and event hosts, audience management, project plans, roadmaps and so on. At the same time, I have also been a fly on the wall during the guidance of the various groups and ensembles, and thus received a lot of good advice when it comes to playing concerts for children. This has given me valuable expertise in the face of a job market I want to be a part of.

The children's concert series came about as one of the student-run projects that CEMPE has supported each year. We have had small, intimate concerts and large performances with 70 kindergarten children in Levinsalen, where the roof has really been raised. We have opened up the Academy to an audience that we rarely saw at our concerts before. My wish with the Children's Concert Series has been to create continuity in the hope that families with children will easily know when the next children's concert at the Academy will take place. Another goal has been to sow some seeds in the little audience members who might become future music students or concertgoers. Not least, the goal of the project has been to give students the skills and desire to continue to create concerts for children!