Get your own creative projects off the ground!

In his Bachelor's project, Pavel Stöckmann tried to answer the question of "why people are needed in art and what makes them special and why they cannot be replaced by AI."

How to inspire new audiences for the existential dimension of classical music
Alla Belova asked herself in her master's recital. "Many people go to India for a retreat because they think it will help their mental health. But they simply don't know that they could go to the KKL on their doorstep to have a similar experience."

Both students of the Lucerne School of Music spared no effort to address their questions artistically: Pavel Stöckmann through extensive compositions of his own, the inclusion of various art and media
forms and the collaboration with several dozen musicians, Alla Belova through musical exploration of the perception of time in a wide variety of works for five different keyboard instruments from several centuries - and her recital was linked to a mediation project lasting several months with lectures, workshops, chat groups and short videos on social media, and audience discussions.
questionnaire. 

The pandemic as a factor?

There are occasional discussions about whether the pandemic and the associated restrictions on the music industry have also triggered artistic and creative developments. "Much faster than anyone could have imagined, the questions from that time are far gone," is the assessment of Institute Director Michael Arbenz. Other factors are far more significant for the developments, such as the now ubiquitous availability of tools that make it easier than ever before to work on and implement artistic concepts on the computer at a professional level.

In the long term - the curriculum factor

For four decades, Peter Baur was responsible for training young musicians in various roles. During this time, it is not only the professional field and the students that have changed. Baur points out that today's examination formats also allow and even encourage much more individualization: "These possibilities didn't even exist before the introduction of Bachelor's and Master's degrees. The main achievement in today's Bachelor's project is the independent idea, which is implemented artistically and organizationally and then reflected upon. Without content requirements." 

Study coordinator Erik Borgir sees great added value in experimental formats that are directly and continuously integrated into the course: "The focus of the degree courses is on performance experience. You can practise as much as you want, without a performance you don't know where you stand. Whether an idea works is only revealed in the interaction with the stage situation, with the audience - everything else is gray theory."

Infrastructure factor

In 2020, the Lucerne School of Music moved into a new building with many places to experiment and perform so that ideas don't remain gray theory. "When you have the possibilities and the space right in front of you, it's inspiring. Being able to try things out in a room is also central to the development process. That wasn't possible at the previous locations. The new environment has really encouraged the desire to create," says lecturer and study coordinator Sascha Armbruster. However, new projects also bring with them new requirements, as Cornelia Dillier, Head of Events/Technology, knows: "Today, you need a crew around you to guide and advise you... You need other forms of support."

The human factor and more

Of course, space, technology and support are not enough. Creative projects depend on individual people and their questions. But today's formats of creative projects often materialize in collaborative structures, as the great importance of interaction in Pavel Stöckmann and Alla Belova's final projects shows. "The more the students realize that these possibilities exist and the more they are in an environment of creativity and creation, the more interested they are in doing something like this," says Erik Borgir. And the students' environment extends beyond the universities: "Switzerland has a fantastic landscape for this kind of work. There are many small places where such performances are possible. There are good support structures. There are close-knit communities that are interested in it and get together. And everything is geographically close to each other, so you get to know each other quickly."

Compiled by:
Valentin Gloor, Director Lucerne School of Music