MUS-E in Peter Ustinov Schools
Originally the Peter Ustinov Foundation funded MUS-E in three classes each in the Peter Ustinov Schools in Cologne and Monheim, starting with the 2007/2008 academic year. Since 1 August 2008 the Peter Ustinov Foundation has also been funding a further MUS-E class at the Peter Ustinov School in Monheim.
MUS-E (Music for Schools in Europe) is an artistic programme for schools, which is put in place across Europe. In Germany, the concept for MUS-E was drawn up and offered by the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. Under the leadership of professional artists, the children play music, dance, produce drama and design things once a week, with the involvement of teachers, as part of routine lessons.
The Peter Ustinov Foundation supports the programme because it corresponds to the intention of the Foundation to help to develop the personality of children and young people at a creative and artistic level. MUS-E therefore develops both the creativity and the social skills of the children. Children in “problem schools”, in particular, are given access to art for the first time as a result of this programme and gain real experience of diversity as a means of enriching society.
MUS-E provides a regular artistic and creative stimulus, thus making a positive contribution to changing the school culture. The fixed expectations of the roles played by those involved are overturned during this process, thus creating a new teacher-pupil relationship. Consequently, in MUS-E teachers themselves become learners and their relationship to the pupils can open out in a positive way. Children can concentrate on being creative without the stress of school and the need to obtain good grades.
MUS-E is a scheme to nurture all children but it places an emphasis on the integration of children with foreign roots. Intensive and regular involvement in musical and artistic material has been shown to have a positive effect on psycho-neurological processes and MUS-E projects can unleash integrative and interculturally cohesive forces within the context of a young person’s life, particularly in critical social scenarios. If the children and young people are guided by artistes to take responsibility for themselves and others, they will gain new social skills which will enrich them in the long term.
In order to guarantee its sustainability, the MUS-E programme supported by the Peter Ustinov Foundation generally runs for a period of three years. By providing support for MUS-E, the Foundation is using modern methods for teaching music to follow on in the artistic tradition of its founder Sir Peter Ustinov.
The Peter Ustinov Foundation becomes involved in this and further projects to benefit children in need and their families. Please join us in our humanitarian project and give children a future with hope.
For more information please contact: www.ymsd.de
