Composing in the classroom - Different Hearing: Experiences in Czech Music Education

The “Different Hearing” programme is primarily focused on children and young people ages 5 to 18, and was tried out on a wide spectrum of students from primary schools through special needs schools to music schools. At present it is used in tandem with “standard” school music education, with the consequent aim of, in a complementary manner, appending composition to existing music lessons in primary and secondary schools. For this reason, the form of the several-day courses are so designed as to allow their employment by faculty of education and tertiary performing arts school students alike, in other words our future teachers and composers. We hope to expand in future to encompass current pedagogues through life-long learning programmes. The programme seeks to achieve three parallel primary goals, known as the 3Cs. The first is the discovery, development and stimulation of creativity in children, the second supporting powers of concentration in the field of sound, composition and audience, and the third is strengthening communicative capabilities and social behaviour in the collective. A secondary aim is an audio-visual transition linking sonic presentations to visual counterparts – graphic displays of sound or similar simple improvisational and compositional activities.