education

Many of today’s Finnish professional musicians attended the Sibelius Upper Secondary School in Helsinki. In addition to general education and musical & dance tuition, the school provides contacts, networks and encounters.

The Sibelius Academy, Finland’s only music university, has for the past two years been part of the University of the Arts trio, together with the Theatre Academy and the Academy of Fine Arts. What does the future sound like for the Sibelius Academy?

The International Minifiddlers distance-learning project is testing a new kind of learning environment for studying the violin. At the same time the East Helsinki Music Institute is searching for ways to bring high-quality music education within reach of even more people.

Finland's music education has succeeded in combining the best features of the old Russian and Hungarian schools with the principles of the Nordic welfare state and democracy. Establishing a good relationship with music has become the basis of the new teaching methods. The audible result - quality - nevertheless continues to occupy a significant role.

Between the mid 1970s and the early 1990s Professor Jorma Panula and his students made the Finnish training for conductors both widely known and highly acclaimed. But where did it all begin - and what has happened since?

Singing, playing games, listening, exercise, and playing instruments - these are the core activities of Finland's many music playschools. The schools are bustling with activity, for they have become very popular in recent years. Finland is a real land of music playschools.

Finland prides itself on being an exemplary country as regards its music education. Foreigners sigh with envy on hearing about our unique music institute system covering all levels from babies right up to PhD students and beyond. And although the music institutes nowadays receive considerable public funding, not one of them was founded by an order from on high; they have just sprung up in response to public demand wherever sufficient material resources have been forthcoming.

“The orchestra as part of society” could well be the title of an ambitious project known for short as Education work that has so far got a dozen or so Finnish orchestras bursting with enthusiasm. The most important target group is schoolchildren.