GuitArs

GuitArs Erasmus Project together is a look at the history of the classical guitar, an instrument deeply rooted in European culture since the late sixteenth century, highlighting its social and cultural importance in the old continent. The project has an endowment of 120,000 euros granted by the European trust Erasmus Plus awarded by the Government of Spain.

Let's play classical guitar is an idea born from the Guitar Department of the Professional Conservatory of Music 'Hermanos Berzosa' of Cáceres (Spain) and involves, besides this conservatory, the Conservatory of Music of Porto (Portugal), Musik und Kunstschule Havelland (Germany), and the Liceo Musicale 'Paolina Secco Suardo' of Bergamo (Italy).

The main aim of this project is to improve the motivation levels of our classical guitar students, so that, by establishing an incredible experience for them, they will be motivated to continue their musical studies in higher conservatories. On the other hand, the project aims to strengthen the profile of the guitar teachers by broadening their knowledge of the history and pedagogy of the instrument, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the day-to-day pedagogical work of the teachers involved.
The project is dedicated to classical guitar students between 14 and 18 years of age, a period in which the highest levels of dropout are detected. Being part of a large-scale project such as this one will make them feel included in an experience that goes beyond music in general, which can be a determining factor in their educational success
In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, the project is divided into six meetings, two of which, the first and the last, are exclusively for teachers in order to prepare and evaluate the project. During the other four meetings, the students from the different conservatories will spend six days in the conservatories of the different countries learning music together.
The four meetings for students will consist of the formation of several chamber ensembles as well as a guitar orchestra with the final goal of performing a concert in an auditorium of the city. For this purpose, the days of stay will be distributed in classes taught by the teachers of the institutions involved in the common language of the project, English. Even so, the students will have time to get to know the city and its surroundings, visiting historical monuments, museums and emblematic places.
Each meeting will have a different theme based on a relevant period in the history of music (baroque, classicism, romanticism, nationalism and twentieth century). In addition, during five of the six meetings the teachers will give one lecture per country, which will be written in English, with the intention of producing a book compiling all the material that has emerged during the project. This will involve a total of twenty lectures over two years. Some of the topics to be addressed are: the organization of music teaching in each country, the teaching of the guitar, the individual class, the collective class, the history of the guitar, etc., so that each meeting will also have a theme in this sense.