Preamble: this short text aims to present the general framework and the purpose of the professional workshops ("ateliers de la profession") which the Haute école de musique de Genève proposed. We welcome any feedback, remarks or suggestions that would enable the concept of the workshops to evolve.

 

In Europe alone, nearly 300 universities provide higher music education intended for future professionals. Each of these institutions now certifies some 100 students per year. Thus, every year at least 30,000 young professional musicians are likely to enter active life in the musical field. This figure can certainly be multiplied by ten if we count the North American schools and by an even more significant factor if we include the rest of the world i.e. Latin America, Australia, Japan, China, Korea, etc. Thus about half a million new professional musicians must be taken into account each year.

 

Given the current situation of orchestras (and the number of musical positions to be filled), of the budgets allocated to culture, of the evolution of the recorded music trade or of the teaching positions available, these figures require each new graduate to be fully aware of the environment she or he is about to enter.

 

It is not a question of training university students solely in accordance with the requirements of the "music market"; it is also about influencing this market through the quality of teachers, teaching and the level of graduates from these schools. Nor should we dramatize the situation or deliberately blacken a general picture which also includes opportunities (mobility, new technologies, etc.) which did not necessarily exist for previous generations. Rather, a good understanding of what this "market", its actors, its rules, etc. represent nowadays seems very necessary for anyone preparing to make the big leap from studies to active life in the fields of performing arts and the stage.

 

Each young musician should put into the balance his own personality, background, interests, desires and intentions, his choices - in short everything that defines his identity (personal and artistic). It is the emphasis on the individuality of each person that will enable each musician to position himself and distinguish himself from all the (young) musicians likely to come into contact with such intermediaries as producers, organisers, and broadcasters, to seek financial support and to "make a place" for themselves in the world of music.

 

The definition and progressive development of a personal project (artistic project) is certainly the cornerstone of the work each individual needs to carry out to position himself in the market. This project may not always be clearly defined at the start of a career. It may also subject to change. However, the project intention can be sketched out at the beginning of the musician's career, by a brief mention in a curriculum vitae of his interests (style, aesthetics, artistic period or trend, preferred composer(s), preferred type of group or ensemble, etc.). The project must also appear in a concert biography and thus make it possible to stand out somewhat from the common "format", which often makes a young professional put forward a biography almost identical to that which would be written by a renowned and accomplished artist. This intention (authenticity) is, finally, the one that a patron or sponsor, solicited for financial support, will seek to identify (understand).

 

The personal project therefore represents the unifying thread of the professional workshops ("ateliers de la profession"). One of the objectives of the workshops is to propose different tools to clarify this personal project by raising awareness of the different aspects of the "real life" of the professional musician.

 

While it is clear to most of those involved in higher music education that the primary objective of a university (a music conservatory) is to train its students in their main (artistic) discipline, it has not yet become apparent that, in addition to instrumental practice, young musicians should prepare for entry into active life with an awareness of these ancillary elements.

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It is in this spirit that the workshops of the HEM profession have evolved over the last few years. In the long term, it is a real "career centre" that could gradually be set up within the Haute école de musique de Genève.

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Translated by Danièle Castle (www.genevensis.com)

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