The canton of Ticino and music education
There are 9 public music schools in Ticino with a total of around 3,500 pupils, which are affiliated to the cantonal association FeSMut (Federazione delle Scuole di Musica Ticinesi). FeSMut was founded in 1996. Matteo Piazza has been the president and VMS delegate for the canton since 2015.
In 2015, a new cultural law was passed in the canton, which also defines the structures and subsidies of the recognized music schools. "It's pretty unsatisfactory for us, to be honest," says Piazza. The canton covers 20% of the teaching costs. If a municipality decides to make additional contributions to school fees, it receives a third back from the canton. The fact that the additional support from the municipality is voluntary means that families have to pay 80% of the tuition costs themselves, depending on where they live - while the national average is around one third.
Two additional challenges are the fact that the minimum wage for teachers stipulated in the Culture Act may only be charged to pupils at a maximum factor of 1.5, and that the canton only provides subsidies for pupils under the age of 20. As a result, the music schools lack financial resources, which are compensated for in the areas of organization and management with volunteer work and a great deal of passion. For Matteo Piazza as FeSMut President and for the other school directors in the canton, lobbying has therefore become an important part of the work. "We have very good connections in the cantonal parliament and the association is very cohesive," he says. Piazza is therefore optimistic about the future: "We have fought a lot and tried many things, but the work for more equal opportunities in music education continues - together!"
In addition to his political work, the father of two remains principal of the Centro di Studi Musicali della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, teaches drums half a day a week at the Accademia Ticinese di Musica in Locarno and plays around 150 gigs a year in various formations.
