The "European countries' national music as a perspective in education and professional careers of young musicians" project is a modern idea of education for the promotion of a wide range of issues related to folklore to prepare musicians ready to perform, and popularize national music on the European music market. Polish education does not have a long tradition in teaching folklore, so it was necessary to reach places where folk music is rich and vital, and the knowledge of it is professionally communicated. Therefore the Coordinator, namely the Bronisław Rutkowski School of Music in Cracow (PL) invited the following music schools to cooperate: the National School for Music and Performing Arts in Burgas (BG) – well experienced in national music and dance teaching and Kroó Music Schoolrun by the Foundation for the Music Education of the Youthin Budapest (HU). The project connects closely to the plans to expand the educational offer - project's coordinator is making steps to establish a faculty of ethnic music. It remains also in line with the intentions of the school in Budapest who is running a folk music faculty as one of the few music schools in Hungary and intends to exchange experience and to make this kind of music popular all over the country as well as abroad. The main project's objective will be to expand international educational cooperation and to enrich the educational offer a new, valuable and original repertoire of ethnic Polish, Balkan and Hungarian music used in future by the graduates of the partner schools in their work as professional musicians. The Kraków Specialist Centre for the Blind, where a technical college educating the sound engineers with the music background operates, has been involved in the project too. Thanks to the disabled students all the project participants will learn the overall process of preparing a musical performance – not only writing and creating texts, melodies and choreography and performing on stage, but also theconcerts’ sound control and realization of the professional recordings. Therefore apart from educational meritthe project will acquire integrative qualities and the universal language of music will connect all the participants in the spirit of tolerance and respect for others. In the period of 25 months 3 International Project Meetings are planned (reconciliation and evaluation of activities and project plans, discussion of the repertoire of concerts and events) and 3 week-long mobility associated with the idea of mutual understanding in practice within the natural environment of national music partners. During the stays in Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland, the project participants will acquire comprehensive knowledge in the planned seminars and orchestral, instrumental, vocal and dance workshops. Their artistic creativity and skills will be developed by numerous competitions, including the online, "Folking with Erasmus +" on the most interesting arrangement of selected Hungarian, Bulgarian and Polish folk tune. The project will also include learning folk songs and dances, presentation of folk regions of the partner countries and learning about their specific instruments. The performance education of participants will be fulfilled by the historical context - an overview of musical pieces inspired by folk music from the baroque to contemporary music, including music, film, science and their proper stylistic interpretation. The use of innovative learning methods will enable all the participants to acquire a broad knowledge, which they will use in their future musicians’, entertainers’, arrangers’ and composers’ careers. Partner organizations will greatly enhance their educational offer and the efficiency of the educational experience. For the coordinator it will be an excellent beginning of the implementation of the future activities of the ethnic music faculty based on the activities developed in the curriculum. This will make it a pioneering music school in Poland, teaching in this important area and, as in the case of the foreign partner schools, preparing its graduates for future studies in "ethnic music" in music colleges. The project has the potential for a wide dissemination because of the trendy, corresponding with the social demand subject and popularity of folk music. A continuation of the project’s idea will consist in organizing future regular events in partner cities – festivals of art education to promote the musical traditions of nationaland other cultures of the world. Concerts, competitions, seminars or workshops with lectures on the possibility of Erasmus + will also serve to disseminate the knowledge acquired thanks to the project’s implementation. Through them the idea of amutual promotion and learning about different musical cultures and building a common Europe without borders and prejudices through the universal language of music will have a chance to become a reality and the gained knowledge will benefit future generations.
The main goal of the project European countries’ national music as an educational and professional perspective of young musicians was to promote folklore and Polish, Hungarian and Bulgarian national music and extend international educational cooperation aimed at professional development of future musicians and increasing their competitiveness on the job market. As a part of the project, numerous workshops and seminars took place in order to increase young people's professional knowledge and performance skills at the threshold of their professional careers, as well as multimedia concerts with international orchestras, choirs, dance groups and soloists from partner schools: the Bronisław Rutkowski Music School in Kraków (coordinator), NUMSI „Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” from Burgas, the Kroó Music School in Budapest (rum by the KIZNA foundation) and The Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired Schools and Institutions Complex in Kraków, whose students in sound engineering prepared recordings of all the events. The plan of educational activities and project mobilities was developed during international coordinators’ meetings in Budapest and Kraków, while in Burgas a summary and evaluation of the project was carried out. During the mobility to Budapest (June 2018), with 41 participants from Poland and Bulgaria, concerts in the concert hall of the Kroó Music School, the Bulgarian Institute of Culture, the Bela Bartók Memorial House and the Kobanya Cultural Center were organised, as well as workshops on Hungarian folk music, stereo recording techniques, Kodály's work and method at the Zoltan Kodály Museum and a seminar for teachers on the "Colorstrings Method". During the mobility to Burgas (September 2018), with 50 participants from Hungary and Poland, apart from musicians the NUMSI students and teachers specializing in Classical Dance and Stage Costume, Graphics and Advertising were also involved in the workshops and concerts. Everyone, along with a wide audience, participated in concerts in the District Administration Hall, Gala Concert in the Summer Theater and the concert for the Polish community in the Roman Catholic church, as well as in the workshops on Bulgarian folk music, and art: creating elements of the Bulgarian folk costumes, recording ethnic music, practical learning of dances: prawo horo, rachenitsa, prima vista (music sight-reading). During the mobility in Krakow (June 2019), not only 45 project participants from Bulgaria and Hungary, but also a wide audience could learn the steps of krakowiak and polonaise in dance workshops, the secrets of Chopin's mazurkas and polonaises at piano workshops and flute in the context of jazz folk music, as well as Polish folk instruments and techniques of recording them. Also a Concert in the Dark (called ‘Reverse’) in Bronisław Rutkowski Music School integrating the blind youth was organised as well as a Concert under the Tatra Mountains at M. Karłowicz Music School in Zakopane, the Kroó Music School concert at the General Consulate of Hungary in Kraków, the Partners’ concert at the "Florianka" Auditorium and the Gala Concert in Manggha, which all received the media patronage of TVP 3, Radio Kraków, Kulturatka.pl, Hejnał Oświatowy, the Bulgarian Writers' Confederation and honorary patronage of the General Consulate of Hungary in Kraków. The project activities encompassed educational events between mobilities: workshops and lectures - ethnic music and recording it, culture and music of Bulgaria and Hungary, lectures - folk instruments of Podhale, a Polish piano school seminar in and numerous concerts in Budapest, Burgas and Kraków including events in the Krakow Philharmonic (European Funds Days), #ErasmusDays and the Jubilee Concert of the Bronisław Rutkowski Music School. The subject of the project was promoted in the articles in the ‘CEA Artistic School’, ‘Hejnał Oświatowy’, a special Erasmus+ calendar with collected memories and photos of the project participants (including the winning photo of the Selfie+ photo competition), the project blog on the website of the Bronisław Rutkowski Music School as well as information on the partner schools and media partners networks. Also the international online "Flying Stage" competition (in Bulgaria), and above all the international online competition on the composition inspired by Polish, Hungarian or Bulgarian folk melodies "Folking with Erasmus +" contributed to promoting the project. The results of the latter were published in "A Musical Notebook" together with compositions specially written for the project by the Polish and Bulgarian teachers. They will all remain permanently in the programs of the partner schools and enrich their library resources. The curriculum for the subject 'ethnic music', created as part of the project activities, will also be used in the future to further develop the topics related to national music of European countries in an educational and professional context.