METRIC – Modernising European Higher Music Education through Improvisation

‘Modernising European Higher Music Education through Improvisation – METRIC’ (2015-2018) is a cooperative project between several European conservatoires and the AEC which focuses on curriculum development and intensive cooperation in the field of improvisation, with the aim of creating a European Master course for improvisation. The project, funded by the ERASMUS+ programme as a Strategic Partnership, builds on the previous Polifonia ERASMUS Intensive Project in which the subject of modernising European higher music education through improvisation was explored for the first time.

Aims and objectives

The current project aims at the further development of the above mentioned modernisation process through the notable effect that improvisation education will have on the existing curricula. Two important objectives of the 2011 EU Modernisation Agenda are addressed in this project:

  • Improving the quality and relevance of higher education and 
  • Strengthening quality through mobility and cross-border cooperation 

By pooling the knowledge and traditions that exist in the various European countries through cross-border cooperation and by jointly developing Joint European Modules, the quality of the educational programmes will be strengthened and employment possibilities for music student will be increased in an employment market that is increasingly international. Furthermore, the enhanced quality of the programmes and the specificity of the study area will also have an positive impact on the attractiveness of higher music education in Europe, as so far Joint Modules in the field of improvisation do not exist elsewhere.

Partners:

  • Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) Talinn (Estonia)-Project Coordinator
  • University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland)
  • Universitatea Nationala de Muzica Bucuresti (Romania)
  • Norges musikkhøgskole, Oslo, (Norway)
  • Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (France)
  • Gothenburg University Academy of Music and Drama (Sweden)
  • Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (The Netherlands)
  • Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig (Germany)
  • Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London (UK)
  • Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA), Vilnius, (Lithuania)
  • The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow (UK)
  • ESMUC – Higher School of Music of Catalonia (Spain)
  • Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen (Belgium)
  • Hochschule Luzern – Musik, (Switzerland)
  • Association Europeenne des Conservatoires, Academies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC), Brussels (Belgium)

The role of the AEC:

AEC’s role in the project is as follows:

• Promoting the Strategic Partnership during dedicated sessions of the AEC events organised regularly;
• Disseminating to external targets the project activities and outcomes of the Strategic Partnership;
• Developing criteria for the evaluation of the Strategic Partnership and hiring an external evaluator to visit one project activity a year, read through materials and write an annual evaluation report.