Virtual Stage explores the methods to introduce distance learning in VET practice for singers and instrumentalists in opera and the limits of its use in this context. The project involves 6 organisations from 4 EU countries (IT, FR, NL, CZ) in a 2 years strategic partnership in which they bring together different areas of expertise, and through research and development aim at the definition of a common methodological approach that can be transferred in all European countries. The introduction of digital technologies in distance teaching and learning is an innovation of absolute relevance in opera training, a field where according to a long-established tradition training is done in real context, closely tied to production, mostly based on situated learning, experimentation and experts coaching. This traditional approach has proven effective and still is for artists ’as well as theater technicians’ VET. The Virtual Stage project relates to the opera tradition and extend its potentialities through study of new methods of distance interaction, both synchronous and asynchronous, specifically designed for the sector. By use of aptly selected digital technologies it is possible to train singers and instrumentalists online, who can thus acquire and update their skills in distance learning. Such is the function of the “virtual stage” intended as the complex of digital technologies that extend the possibilities of practical training of the artists beyond the limitations inherent in the physical proximity of trainers and trainees in a theatre or a music room.Il metodo Virtual Stage permetterà, nell’emergenza COVID-19 in corso e in eventuali circostanze analoghe future, di garantire la continuità della didattica in un settore che attualmente è limitato, nelle sue modalità operative tradizionali, dalle restrizioni dovute per le misure sanitarie anti-pandemia. Permetterà inoltre di rendere più flessibile l’organizzazione delle attività formative anche in condizioni normali, offrendo delle alternative per ridurre i costi e allentare, dove richiesto, i vincoli di spazio e tempo della formazione. The specific objectives of the project are: - develop well structure didactic offer, rich of examples, shared by all partners, consistent in the methodological reference values and in the quality objectives; - identify, study and document the training methods and practices used in the VET activities implemented by the project participating organisations and by other in the same field, in their countries and across the EU; - have a vast impact on the European musical trainers community through dissemination activities that will make extensive use of digital media and viral mechanisms starting from the partners’ network. The road map of the Virtual Stage project towards said objectives envisages 5 intellectual outputs that shall be developed and validated through piloting in the 4 project countries with the cooperation of all project partners: O1: Digital technologies in VET for opera. State of the art analysis; O2: New Virtual Stage method for distance training in the field of opera. Guidelines for singers training; O3: New Virtual Stage method for distance training in the field of opera. Guidelines for instrumentalists and conductors training; O4: Virtual Stage Repository: digital OERs for training in the field of opera; O5: eCourse – Introduction to the Virtual Stage method for the development and delivery of distance training in the field of opera. The project target groups are: * direct target – opera trainers, music disciplines teachers and, specifically, singing teachers, instrument teachers, collaborating teachers, trainers in scenic art, choir and orchestra conducting; * indirect target - music students, professionals and workers involved in production and VET in the field of opera, other trainers in the music and technology sectors, organizations specializing in VET in performing arts and music or in music production, conservatories, music schools, theaters and training organisations in the opera field. The strategic partnership is based on the need for an interdisciplinary and transnational effort to create a new VET field: distance digital training in the opera sector, that involves different areas of expertise such as online training, music training, technological research applied to VET.
* Promote a flexible blended learning approach as the best and multifaceted way to address the digital transformation in VET for Opera. * Select the best open resources available for distance and blended learning in the field of Opera. * Provide a wide range of possible training/learning activities using appropriate technological tools and study materials to support Opera trainers who want to experiment with digital technology effectively. * Develop a well-structured and extensively exemplified set of products ready to be used in train-the-trainer and digital skills training, complete with reference guides, resource databases and online self-study courses. * Promote further research and development, encouraging the use of the project results as a starting point from which trainers can design their own courses. * Achieve a broad impact on the community of European music educators through a wide dissemination linked to the contact networks of each partner throughout Europe.
The main reason for applying for this project was to advance the state of the art of vocational training in the opera sector with regard to digital readiness. As the sector has a very strong tradition of technical-practical training, learning by doing and situated learning, which usually take place in a theatre and completely in direct, face-to-face mode, it remained almost untouched by digitisation until the COVID-19 pandemic. And in fact it was not ready for digital. So, part of the reason for our application was certainly to provide solutions for the continuity of training during the pandemic and in other extreme circumstances, should they ever occur again. But it does not stop there. In fact, we believe that the unfortunate event of COVID-19 can have a positive effect in that it opens up a new receptivity for innovative proposals in the field. Therefore, the project responds both to the needs of the emergency and to those of normality, where people can meet and participate in face-to-face training sessions. The project partners share the conviction that digital technology can indeed improve the training of opera artists in normal times and have tried to demonstrate this in the intellectual results (in particular 2, 3, 5).