As we go through the hundredth anniversary of World War I, we feel it is important to help students understand that peace between people is fragile and is created and fostered by getting to know one another. As a result, we have come up with a project that would engage the school community as well as the general population in a creative presentation called “The Peace Cantata.”This project would require everyone’s active participation and involvement, the students being the driving force, and would be carried out with the spirit of a democratic society and European way of thinking. We understand that our way of thinking and judging is always influenced by our connection to our personal history and the history of our country. This plays a big role in how important remembering the past is in each country and how it is presented to the world. This connection between recognizing the past and looking towards the future would be translated into a celebration of peace thanks to the creation of a cantata composed of several European languages and academic grade levels. The main goal of this project is to create the script and lyrics of a cantata for peace and to perform it.During the two-year duration of the project, we would be fostering our love for peace in honour of the events that took place in the years 1914-1918, the consequences of which still resonate within Europe to this day. The European choir consisting of students from two different academic grade levels and three participating countries would gather in May 2018 at the abbey of Souvigny to proclaim peace and understanding between the people of Europe.In order to succeed with this production, we will be adopting guidelines from the national education programs of the three participating countries: discovering and analyzing arts and literature of the time period to engage in a reflective analysis of this historical topic and in doing so designing an artistic piece that would invite the 21st century to reflect on the democratic values held by the countries of Europe. The creation of this cantata will convey the values and knowledge that will forge today’s students into future citizens. As a matter of fact, the moral values that make up the foundations of sustainable peace, an aspiration of all european countries, will be show cased in this musical creation that the students will work on together. The students will be faced with a number of challenges, including learning how to engage with others and exchange ideas, sharing collective responsibility for the creation of the project, learning about other cultures within the choral group, and realising that peace is based on understanding and respecting each other. By living in this mini society within the choral group, the students will bring to the project the universal morals that make up the foundation of peace : respect and an open spirit. Through the celebration of diversity in the sense of civic, cultural and social belonging, everyone will be able to feel like an important part of a communal choir, a country, and Europe as a whole. In addition to their civic skills, the students will be applying technical skills associated with artistic production and the ability to better understand and identify their feelings and emotions, put them into words and discuss them, and understand the feelings of others as well. In creating the script, the students will draw on literature from their respective countries to explore their native language and discover the pleasure that can be conveyed through words. In addition, their vocal expression will allow them to express their sense of humanity, understanding, and taste, as well as highlight their self confidence and ability to listen to and empathise with others.To finish, we will refer to the words of Anne Marie Thiesse, Research Director at CNRS: “With song, we create a sort of communion, a sense of belonging that is strong and powerful."
As part of the European project ERASMUS + "Cantata de la Paix", the students from Jean Moulin and Léonard de Vinci, as well as the class of Cham François d'Yzeure are performing in concert. Alongside their comrades from two European cities, Montepulciano in Italy and Dresden in Germany, the concert will take place in Priory church of Souvigny on Friday, May 18th at 2:30 pm then again at 6:30 pm. These concerts are the product of a two-year partnership between the schools of these three European countries, centered around the topic of the First World War. More than 250 students interpreted the songs that were composed during several classes during exchanges between these schools. The unifying European partnership project has been approved by the European agency ERASMUS +. It has received funding in the amount of € 131,318 for its activities. It has also been awarded the Centenary Label of the Great War, has received the support of the Academic Delegation for European Relations and Cooperation (DAREIC), as well as that of the Ministry of Defense. The overall coordination of the project was carried out by the French steering committee, composed of members of ICAS, the project's financial backer (the director, the coordinator of the educational success program and the facilitator of the latter), as well as members of the project, the Academic Directorate of the National Education Services of Allier, and the educational lead of the project (the Academic Director of the National Education Services, the National Education Inspector in charge of the European Actions and the Departmental Pedagogical Advisor). This project was rooted in the philosophy of the Common Knowledge, Competence and Culture Foundation and the Common European Framework for Languages. Through the commemoration of the centenary of the "Great War", it aims to promote and celebrate European values of peace, solidarity and fraternity. For this project a lot of work has been done in history, civic and moral education and art education, to enable students to appropriate some of the most salient elements of the history of the First World War. The students drew inspiration from works of literature and musical works. They benefited from conferences, meetings with writers, activities related to local resources. For example, in France, students visited the Departmental Archives of the Allier, in order to discover the Historial of the peasant soldier Fleuriel. In Germany, research visits were organized to the Museum of Military History in Dresden. In Italy, they worked with the War Archive and the Montepulciano Library collections. These activities carried out in civic and moral education made it possible to approach the notions of peace and respect, two fundamental values important to the education of European citizens. This work has particularly helped to nourish the writing of the texts of the cantata. Classes also took part in public commemorations on November 11 and May 8. In addition, concerts took place during the year 2016-2017 in the three European partner cities, Moulins, Montepulciano and Dresden, which allowed the students to interpret songs from the past, and also learn songs in the three languages. Throughout these two years, the pupils and colleges involved, with the support of their teachers, created a "cantata of peace" with representation in all three languages. A French composer organized the musical composition; an orchestra and its Italian conductor provided the direction and musical accompaniment; and the pianist is German.