The "Musical Heritage of Poland, Bulgaria and Germany in Contemporary Professional Music Education" project is an educational idea for enriching the professional competences of young musicians with the skill of valuable arrangement and attractive presentation of the partner countries’ music. Nowadays music schools focus mainly on training professional performers who are not creators but imitators. In professional practice, musicians often struggle with the demand to arrange original compositions for other, currently available instruments (bands) to attract different types of audience, e.g. combine classical music with jazz. Two partner institutions: The Bronisław Rutkowski Primary and Secondary Music School in Kraków (PL) and the National School of Music and Performing Arts "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov ”in Burgas (BG) identified the need to enrich the educational offer in the area of music arrangement after the joint participation in the previous Erasmus+ project aimed at learning and performing music derived from the folklore of their countries. The third partner: Martin-Pollich-Gymnasium in Mellrichstadt (DE) got interested in the results of that project. The Polish school has significant achievements in the field of teaching classical music, jazz, ethnic and early music, and is currently developing a lively collaboration between students of various specialties that requires the use of arrangement methods. The Bulgarian school is a professional art school focused on classical music, ballet and drama which is currently expanding its educational offer into folk instruments and composition. Meanwhile the German school offers practical education in a professional big-band and in musicals with a lot of arrangement work, whilst it points to the need to expand and modernize classical music performance education. The complementary competences of all three schools have become the basis for establishing a new strategic partnership. The project provides for learning how to arrange the national music of the partner countries for specified instruments (singing) and bands both during internal classes at individual schools, supported by remote consultations with the partners and during mobilities. Descriptions of these educational activities enriched with the project results (arrangements’ scores and their performance recordings) will be published in the form of an innovative didactic publication. The aim of the project will be to expand international cooperation and to enrich the educational offer with a new repertoire of Polish, Bulgarian and German music, which will be used by teachers and graduates of partner schools. Within 24 months, 3 International Project Meetings are planned, as well as 3 week-long mobilities related to a joint implementation of the results of virtual mobility and the idea of practical learning together the natural environment of the partner countries’ national music and their educational experiences. During the subsequent trips to Poland, Bulgaria and Germany, the project participants (20 students + 5 teachers from each school) will gain comprehensive stage competence in the planned orchestral, instrumental, vocal and dance seminars and workshops. Their skills will develop thanks to participation in multimedia concerts attractive for a wide international audience, combining singing, dance and music. Their artistic creativity will also be developed by a competition for the best interpretations and arrangements of works by Polish, Bulgarian and German composers in online form, and thus available to all the music students in the partner countries. The project participants will exchange experiences related to the use of modern software for music notation and other information and communication technology in remote work. These competences are important in contemporary job market, and in times of crisis, such as the 2020 pandemic, simply necessary in the musician’s profession. The project will have integrative aspects. A dance group as well as sound engineering students from the "Center for the Blind" will be included in the training activities in Kraków. "A concert in the dark" will take place with the participation of international sighted and blind performers. In turn, in Germany, the project activities will be targeted at the candidates to study at the music school, including immigrant children from various cultural areas. The project has a great chance for a widespread dissemination due to the attractive, socially relevant topic and popularity of national music. It will be followed by regular artistic events in partner countries. The dissemination of the results will be served by open concerts, competitions, seminars and workshops on the possibilities of the Erasmus + program. Thanks to them, the idea of a mutual promotion and learning about different music cultures as well as building a common Europe without borders through the universal musical language will have a chance to become a reality.
The common goal of all the partners was to acquire the knowledge of music arrangement combined with the exchange of pedagogical experience and learning the new repertoire of European countries’ national music. Owing to the opportunity to work under the supervision of foreign lecturers which culminated in professional performances on large, international stages, talented students could also gain new knowledge and competences in solo and group performance, which is important for the development of their future professional careers as soloists, band members, composers, arrangers and cultural animators. Thanks to the project, it was possible to stimulate the departments of jazz, vocal, early music, as well as the harp, flute and guitar classes, and to reinforce the teaching of other classical instruments, especially in chamber ensembles of various specializations. Modern information technologies, particularly important in the remote work during a pandemic, were implemented. An important value of the project was also the integration of participants, including students with special needs, building up openness to the world's cultural heritage, broadening the mental horizons as well as the knowledge of foreign languages of young people.
The assumption of the project was to enhance the professional competences of music school youth with the ability to create an interesting and artistically valuable arrangements, as well as an attractive presentation of their own national music and that of the partner countries. Educational systems, especially in Poland and Bulgaria, do not usually provide solid knowledge related to arranging musical works, both classical and modern. Therefore, the educational gap had to be filled drawing on the experiences of the German partner, focused on the extensive use of arrangements in music education, particularly on the borderline between classical and popular music. Polish and Bulgarian partners, in turn, provided the German partner with substantial support in the field of classical performance. International cooperation therefore encompassed the organization of numerous training workshops on arranging national music of partner countries in conformity with contemporary trends, as well as concerts appealing to a wide audience and improving young people’s performance skills in a variety of professional solo and ensemble presentations.