Rotterdam and the Challenges of Classical Music Education for Children: Developing New Strategies

Abstract

Classical music education in the Netherlands has been under sustained pressure for years. With schools increasingly lacking funding or infrastructure, music education has slowly been disappearing from the curriculum. Music schools themselves have also noticed a decline in student numbers and quality of the level of their students. Initiatives have been launched to compensate for this gap that the disappearance of music education in schools has left behind. An example of an initiative comes from symphonic orchestras and music schools. This is also the case in vibrant Rotterdam, where numerous organisations work together to offer children this introduction. In this thesis I will examine the challenges that institutions such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO), music school Stichting Kunstzinnige Vorming Rotterdam (SKVR) and youth orchestra association Rotterdams Jeugd Symfonie Orkest (RJSO) face in the light of the current political and societal pressures and explore the strategies they have developed in response to them. I will start by providing a literature review to disentangle some of the discourse surrounding classical music and discuss research on the psychological and sociological benefits of classical music education for children. In the second chapter, I will conduct several interviews with representatives of prominent musical institutions in the city of Rotterdam, RPhO, SKVR and RJSO. My third chapter will provide an analysis of all gathered data, a breakdown of the different approaches of each institution and a discussion of the ways in which they have come up with a solution for the challenges presented. In so doing, this thesis offers an insight into classical music education in Rotterdam.