„Bridges and Borders“: Elective seminar in music for volunteers in the FSJ/Culture program in Berlin-Brandenburg, April 24-29, 2017:
“Music, music, music – it's all part of it…”, as a Helge Schneider song from the 90s goes, and this could also summarize this year's elective music seminar for participants in the FSJ/Kultur Berlin-Brandenburg program. Morning, noon, and night, not only in the musical workshops but also in their free time, participants made and listened to music, as well as reflected on and discussed it. The thematic starting point of the seminar and the three parallel workshops was „Singing/Voice“ (led by: Katja Katsuba), „Experimental Music“ (Els Vandeweyer) and „Songwriting/ Music & Lyrics“ (Kristina JungThe theme was "Bridges and Borders".
Borders are currently one of the most hotly debated political and social issues. The speed at which long-thought-to-be-overcome borders are being re-erected is sometimes breathtaking, and this isn't just about national or EU external borders, but also about mental and social boundaries in people's minds, boundaries between "them" and "us," or between "wrong" and "right." Borders are always closely related to their metaphorical counterpart, bridges: the attempt to erect new or old borders is met with the attempt to build bridges and overcome existing boundaries.
In the elective music seminar, the 23 young adults, who normally manage projects, lead groups, or organize events at their placements, were able to intensively explore these and their own questions about bridges and boundaries—bridges and boundaries of all kinds—for six days, far removed from their daily work routines. Music, in particular, offered exciting points of departure: Making music together can build bridges and bring people together. Those who make music with others find a common language that transcends words. However, this process isn't always without conflict; boundaries must be tested and negotiated, for example, between melody and accompaniment, i.e., musical foreground and background, between loud and soft, but also between noise, sound, and music: At what point does a noise become a sound? And when and how do sounds become music?
The seminar concluded with a brilliant final presentation, which was attended by guests, including a representative from LKJ Berlin, our cooperation partner in this seminar format as the sponsoring organization of the FSJ/Kultur Berlin-Brandenburg program. We look forward to continued collaboration and are already looking forward to the next music seminar planned for next year.
Seminar impressions on Flickr:
The elective music seminar is a collaboration with the State Association for Cultural Youth Education Berlin eV (LKJ Berlin eV) and was supported by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family.
