'These kids have matured by three years in one week,' said one of the teachers as we walked through Gothenburg. That really is the best description of the effect that the trip to Sweden has had on this group of young musicians from In Harmony Telford and Sistema in Norwich. They arrived on the 14th of June, clearly excited but
Over the next three months, children and tutors from English Sistema programmes will have gone to Italy, Sweden and Canada as part of a European Union Culture Programme funded exchange between Europe and Canada. SMEEC, as it is known, will see fifty seven English children taking part, with each visit culminating in a performance. The first
The pizzas – as one of the children put it – were massive, but what was even larger were the smiles of the young musicians last Sunday, after they performed at Milan’s Dal Verme theatre. It was the end of an adventure that started with an invitation from Sistema England and Sistema Italia, that had most
The European Union’s Culture Programme is providing €200,000 in matched funding to allow children from Sistema-inspired programmes on both sides of the Atlantic to get together to perform in England, Italy and Canada. “SMEEC – Sistema-inspired Music Education and Exchange with Canada” will see 2,000 young musicians and music tutors rehearse, perform and work together,