Federal Council's cultural message: good approach to promoting talented people
The Swiss conservatoires train professional musicians to a high level. The cultural mission is to enrich the world of music and to train music teachers across the board.
MK/MvO - Music teachers have an important cultural role in our education system, as the music profession is primarily about teaching young people about the world of music and promoting musical talent. In September 2012, the Swiss people gave a gratifyingly clear yes to the musical promotion of the younger generation. Since then, the new Article 67a of the constitution has provided us with the basis for introducing young people to music, enabling musical education at primary and music school level and also promoting young talent. At least this was the view of politicians and an expert commission appointed by the federal government to implement this article of the constitution. As in the field of sport, which, like music, is firmly anchored in the Swiss education system, the focus should be on both popular and top-level performance. Both are mutually dependent! Musical education certainly has the primary aim of introducing young people to music, to cultural issues and to creative-artistic meaningfulness and sensuality. The simultaneous application of mind and emotion, ability and intuition, knowledge and experience is an integral part of the qualities that make up a personality. Whether this personality ultimately becomes a professional musician is not the primary question. Many questions in music are the same as in other areas, and musical knowledge is valuable in almost all areas of life: music trains both halves of the brain!
For this reason, the conservatoires very much welcomed the Youth and Music ("j+m") program launched by the last 2016-2019 Cultural Message, even though this program is about the broad promotion of music for young people through the support of courses and music camps, which is primarily organized by the music associations and music schools. "j+m" is certainly an important initial basis for going beyond the standard lessons at elementary school from the point of view of providing the most comprehensive music education possible from school age. However, this basis is neither sufficient in terms of the objective of the constitutional article nor in terms of the financial resources of around CHF 3 million per year. A look at the sports promotion programme for youth and sport ("j+s"), which is now subsidized to the tune of almost CHF 100 million per year, shows above all that, in addition to broad-based promotion, it must also always be a matter of promoting gifted children. At first glance, music is not as competitive as sport - and yet the approach of promoting talent is crucial when it comes to helping young people with a greater interest in music to progress with appropriate additional lessons (e.g. additional lessons on an instrument, ensemble playing, ear training, music theory). Public music schools cannot guarantee this in a targeted manner; systematic gifted classes and other measures are established in very few cantons, and music schools do not normally have the resources to do so.
For this reason, it was and is also essential from the point of view of the conservatoires to supplement the setting for the implementation of Article 67a of the Constitution beyond "j+m" with the element of talent promotion.
From the point of view of the Swiss conservatoires, there should be systematic support for talented students at the level of the cantonal music schools. Following on from this - as the last mile, so to speak, for the highly talented who aspire to a professional career in music - is the PreCollege, i.e. preparation for the entrance examination to a conservatoire. Regardless of whether preparatory training takes place at music schools, grammar schools or universities, it is important to provide targeted, high-quality training so that students have a real chance of a professional career as a musician. In principle, all talented students from all cantons should have an appropriate pre-college funding basis, supported by all cantons or possibly also by federal funds. This is a requirement that has by no means been met in all regions of the country.
For this reason, the Swiss Conference of Music Universities (KMHS) and the Swiss Association of Music Schools (VMS) have joined forces in recent years to develop, among other things, a mission statement on the "Promotion of musical talent in Switzerland", which sets out their joint positions and defines possible support programs. The aim is to jointly define the modalities of pre-college courses of study in order to ensure a seamless transition from music education at school (support for talented students at music schools) to professional university studies. This also includes the so-called "Talent Card" as an entry requirement for talent programs at music school level, followed by a "PreCollege Label". The latter is to be awarded to suitable music schools and other preparatory institutions that guarantee a certain minimum standard of preparation for university.
Switzerland needs to catch up
It should not go unmentioned that Switzerland has a lot of catching up to do in this respect compared to many music education programs for young and talented people in our neighbouring countries. This is illustrated by a comparison mentioned in the mission statement of KMHS and VMS, which is based in particular on the UN and UNESCO definitions of cultural education. Universities are often accused of having too high a proportion of foreign students. The fact is, however, that the level of Swiss applicants with proven talent in entrance examinations is often lower than that of talented foreign students of the same age. A systematic and high-quality education for talented students and pre-college education in Switzerland would quickly make up for this competitive disadvantage and better exploit the potential of professional musicians in Switzerland.
In light of all these considerations and concepts, we can only welcome the new proposal by the Federal Council and the Federal Office of Culture as part of the new 2021-2024 Cultural Dispatch to support the promotion of talented musicians in addition to the continuation of "j+m" in the future. The proposed new paragraph in the Cultural Promotion Act is the legal basis for the promotion of talented musicians outlined above, which the music associations and the KMHS have been calling for emphatically in recent years. The KMHS therefore supports this proposal. However, it expects it to be incorporated into law and that politicians will help to close this important gap in the Swiss music education system. Efficient cantonal models can be found here in a joint approach by the Confederation and the cantons in order to make even better use of the high musical potential. This is not an end in itself, but because society urgently needs music as a cultural asset - and even more so, it needs high-quality music teachers to teach and convey music in our elementary and music schools.
The KMHS consultation on the Federal Council's 2021-2024 Culture Dispatch can be found here:
You can find the Federal Council's message here:
