Current teaching practices in conservatories throughout the world are in need of reform, calling for new and innovative approaches that go above and beyond the traditional training of students as soloist and group performers. Although music conservatories began to experiment, albeit rather timidly, from the 1990s onwards, the majority have maintained a homogenous concept of “highbrow” music, focused on instrumental music training, a trend which has remained practically unchanged for over a century.

In this IV International Symposium on Music Teaching we will examine the factors that currently shape training needs and shortfalls in music conservatories, as well as the professional training of graduates. New technologies, for example, have given us access to an exhaustive range of music performances, all in a single click. This affects not just how music is consumed, but also how musicians network and how they produce their work. The sparse variety in concert hall programmes has spurred many young performers on to invent more diverse and participative formats for concert performances, especially those designed to awaken the audience’s sense of curiosity and their senses. Moreover, performers increasingly take on the additional tasks of producing and managing their own work, making use of new technologies and social media, a recent development that has a considerable knock-on effect on the entire music industry.

Our Symposium aims to enable participants to update and improve their teaching skills, tackling topics such as current professional requirements in the music industry, dialogic education, research, new career opportunities in the field, and the role played by Educational Administrations in bringing music conservatories up to date.

Sección Departamental de Didáctica de la Expresión Musical de la Universidad de Granada y Real Conservatorio Superior de Música “Victoria Eugenia” de Granada.

Further information:

• IV International Symposium on Music Teaching