Science, technology and music in youth centers
A project conceived by Thomas Gartmann and Barbara Balba Weber together with the Science et Cité Foundation for the MINT Switzerland funding program entitled "Schall und Rauch. Science, technology and music in youth centers" receives support from the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
Youth centers are important meeting places, and music plays a central role in them, writes Thomas Gartmann, Head of Research at Bern University of the Arts (HKB). It was this fact that led to the creation of this project: Everything that sounds has "a physical origin and consists of a more or less malleable 'matter' that can be influenced, changed and alienated, but also visualized - and created itself". Barbara Balba Weber is a lecturer in artistic music education at the HKB.
As part of the project, young people are to be approached about the technical and physical side of music and music-making. To this end, workshops with musicians, researchers and technicians will be held in small groups in youth centers - such as Kofmehl Solothurn or Kiff Aarau - before concerts. The results of the workshops are presented to the audience in the form of a pre-concert or a science show before the actual concert begins.
The collaboration between Science et Cité, the association infoklick.ch - Kinder- und Jugendförderung Schweiz, the association tüfteln.ch and the Bern University of the Arts opens up various approaches to ensure the implementation of the project, Gartmann continued.
