Music Academy of the German-speaking Community of Belgium
| Music Academy of the German-speaking Community of Belgium | |
|---|---|
.JPG)
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| Music Academy building | |
| type of school | music school |
| founding | 1972 |
| address |
Bellmerin 37 |
| place | Eupen |
| carrier | German speaking community |
| student | around 1200 |
| Teachers | about 70 |
| management | Luc Marly |
| Website | www.musikakademie.be/ |
The Music Academy of the German-speaking Community of Belgium is a municipal institution for music education, language and dance founded in 1972 with its headquarters in the former Villa Arthur Peters in Eupen . With around 70 teachers and more than 1200 students in 25 disciplines as well as branches in all communities in East Belgium , it is the largest school in the German-speaking Community (DG).
history
After there had been no music schools in East Belgium until the beginning of the 1970s, the journalist Willy Timmermann and the musician Paul Derwahl initiated a survey in cooperation with the associations of the parents 'councils of the community schools and the parents' associations at the state schools as well as the cultural office and the Födekam Establishment of such an institution. Due to the extremely positive response, the Special Representative of the Minister for French Culture Johann Weynand and the Eupen City Council initiated the necessary steps for approval, structure and location and on September 1, 1972 helped to found the "Eupen-Bütgenbach Music Academy" as a second category school Based in the French school on Eupener Bergkapellstrasse. About 350 students and 17 teachers started teaching under the leadership of the first director and co-founder Paul Derwahl. As a result, departments were created in Bütgenbach , Weywertz , Elsenborn , Nidrum , Rocherath and Hünningen as well as in Eynatten and Raeren . As early as 1973, the music school could be upgraded to the first category under the Belgian School Act. In 1985 the branch of the Aubel-Kelmis Music Academy, founded in Kelmis in 1970, was added as a further department.
A few years later, the music school was relocated to the premises of the former girls 'school and later to that of the boys' school on Eupener Schulstrasse. In 1991 another move was necessary, this time to the private villa of the entrepreneur Alfred Bourseaux on Lascheterweg. After their sale and an annual rent of 30,000 euros demanded by the new owner, this building had to be abandoned for cost reasons and the music school then moved to the premises of the Kolping House on Bergstrasse.
In 2008 the choir director and church musician Hans-Georg Reinertz took over the direction. A year later, the school was incorporated into the teaching system of Eastern Belgium as the "Music Academy of the German-speaking Community of Eastern Belgium" and placed under the sponsorship of the DG's intercommunal community. This gave it better legal protection, improved framework conditions and a pooling of resources and has since been represented with branches in Raeren, Büllingen , Bütgenbach, Kelmis, Lontzen , St. Vith , Amel and Burg-Reuland .
Because of the cramped conditions in the Kolping House, the school management had to look again for new premises a few years later. Thereupon the DG made available the vacant Villa Peters, which it owned, and invested around 2.8 million euros, 20% of which from the city of Eupen, in restoration and redevelopment work to enable the Music Academy to live there permanently. In April 2019 it was finally moved into and officially opened under the new director and saxophonist Luc Marly, who had been in office for a year, and was presented to a broad public in June 2019 with an open house and in September 2019 with participation in the open monument day .
In Eupen alone, around 500 children and young people are taking advantage of the school's offerings and around 70 teachers, including the violinist and composer Paul Pankert and the conductor Gerhard Sporken , are training more than 1,200 music enthusiasts across the entire DG.
Structure and offers
The offer of the music academy is aimed at children from the age of 5 who are enthusiastic about music, as well as young people and adults of all ages and is divided into school years. In the field of music theory , courses in early musical education are offered for children from five to seven years of age with one hour per week and, based on this, a five-year music education as compulsory lesson when taking an instrumental course with the possibility of a subsequent two-year perfecting course. The first five compulsory years are divided into two years of lower grades with one to two hours per week and middle, upper and excellence levels with two hours per week in the following years and conclude with a class examination. Adults can complete these compulsory seminars as group lessons in four years.
The instrumental lessons can with this requirement on different instruments and in popular music genres as well as in singing (14 years), accompanied by music, chamber music, or be learned in music for various ensembles. Here, for up to six years in the lower grades, weekly 30-minute lessons with annual internal class examinations are given and the opportunity is then offered to attend the middle and upper grades for two years each, which in turn conclude with an annual technical and public examination . Under special conditions and talents, it is then possible to complete the excellence level A, B 1 and B 2 with one hour per week each.
According to the rules of Belgian music schools, these certificates and degrees are primarily used for individual performance comparison and personal motivation. They are not a direct requirement for professional music studies at conservatories , but they are gladly taken into account when applying to music colleges or when becoming a member of music associations.
In addition, the music academy offers ballet lessons for children and young people in the Eupen and St. Vith locations as well as courses on music history for all ages. Furthermore, seminars for children's and adult theater as well as speech training for adults take place in Eupen .
The Academy continues to be an important partner of Födekam, the “Regional Association of Instrumental and Vocal Ensembles in the German-speaking Community of Belgium”, with which it will start the “Band Factory” program from autumn 2019, with which young musicians will be encouraged to make music together should be.
Web links
- Homepage
- Heinz Gensterblum: The sixth place to stay should be the definitive one , in: Grenz-Echo from April 26, 2019
Individual evidence
- ↑ New director for the DG Music Academy , on brf.be/regional from April 23, 2008
- ↑ Transfer of the music academy to the teaching system , in: Added value of autonomy, example from 30 years of DG with decree power and its own government . Ministry of the German-speaking Community of East Belgium, January 2014, pp. 75/76
- ↑ Music Academy arrived in their new home , report and video on brf.be from April 24, 2019
- ↑ Music Academy of the German-speaking Community
- ↑ Marc Komoth: "Band Factory": Young musicians make music together , in Grenz-Echo from July 23, 2019
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 ′ 11.8 " N , 6 ° 2 ′ 56.7" E