Award for the "miam-ensemble"

Every year, the Lily Waeckerlin Fund of the Accentus Foundation honors an innovative and high-quality project in the field of youth and music in Switzerland. With this prize, the foundation aims to motivate children and young people not just to consume music, but to actively engage with it. The mediation and introduction to the musical work therefore play a special role in the awarding of the prize.

"The ability to understand music is not a talent reserved only for some: all human beings possess it." (Edwin E. Gordon)

The "miam-ensemble" offers concerts for children between the ages of 0 and 6 accompanied by a caregiver. The concerts are designed according to the findings of Music Learning Theory, which was developed by musician and educationalist Edwin E. Gordon. The musicians stand in a circle around the children, who can react to the music in their own way while sitting on a red carpet - listening on their father's lap, dancing around their mother and singing along.
At the earliest age, children are particularly ready to absorb music with curiosity and an open mind. They learn music like their own mother tongue and develop their individual musical talent in the process. In the "miam" concerts, they listen to short, complex, varied pieces of classical, folk and jazz music in an intimate setting, which are fun, awaken their senses and also develop their perception.

With its concerts for the youngest children, the "miam-ensemble" offers a musical experience to stimulate the senses and provide orientation in the world, in a situation that promotes relationships: Relationship with parents who share this experience and provide the necessary protection, relationship with other children from different social and cultural backgrounds and relationship with musicians who play for them. In this safe environment, not only does understanding grow, but also a love of music, which can be a faithful companion for a lifetime.