Reaching out to the orchestra – Concert visits as a curricular link to extracurricular musical activities?

Abstract

AbstractVisiting classical concerts as part of school activities has a long tradition in Germany but has always been controversial. The multi-case study Schools@Concerts aims in mapping different approaches of connecting school music education with classical concert visits in seven European countries. As part of this project, this article gives early insights into the Frankfurt case. Different perspectives on concert visits include students, teachers and concert hosts. After a short overview about the German discussion, the article gives a brief insight into the state curricula concerning concert visits and the school curriculum of the participating school. All participants have positive attitudes towards concert visits but also highlight the organizational effort of it. Both, teacher and host emphasize missing resources for preparing concerts. Although classical concerts do not meet the musical taste of the children, most of them show positive attitudes to concert visits. Therefore the study wants to encourage responsible stake holders to support concert visits, both in schools and orchestras.