Learning Classical Music Club

COVID-19 and containment? The winning answer from the Learning Classical Music Club (LCMC)

On 9 March, the CERN Clubs had to choose between suspending all the activities or reinventing themselves to continue while strictly adhering to the current guidelines. The Learning Classical Music Club preferred the second option. Continuing music lessons by videoconference was immediately obvious. Pupils and teachers were able to get on board of this “virtual boat” without difficulty, relieved to see a stabilizing element in a chaotic situation.

But as long as they had to reinvent themselves, they might as well let their imagination blossom and exploit the virtual possibilities to the full! At the initiative of Juliette Roumailhac, violin teacher, teachers and students have got into the habit of getting together every Saturday at 5.30 pm for a small informal concert: the students, from 4 to 58 years old, spontaneously present on this occasion what they want from their work in class. Harp, piano, violin, flute, guitar, musical initiation, there is something for all tastes, all levels, all dynamics. From Saturday to Saturday, we see the piece of a particular pupil evolving, we discover the new pieces chosen each week by another; but above all we listen to each other, we discover each other's instruments. And this does not stop at the borders of the current club members. The online concerts have made it possible to meet students who have gone abroad; grandparents living far away have been able to listen to their grandchildren live. Ties are being forged between students, parents and teachers. Reciprocal stimulation and spontaneity work wonders. And the autonomy developed by the children in their daily instrumental practice does not displease the parents! All are unanimous: this is an unmissable event, a landmark and a source of joy in this special time.

The hardest part is yet to come... the concerts will stop at the end of the school year. Palpable sadness.

But don't panic, we promise, the concerts will come back at the beginning of the school year, once a month!

The COVID-19 and the lockdown? Through the magic of creative freshness and relational evidence, they have allowed the development of a true musical, social and human community, wider and more intense than ever!

 Learning Classical Music Club

lcmc-info@cern.ch

 

by Learning Classical Music Club