The 2019-2023 action plan
Music as a lever for education, communication, development and inclusion
Joining the Creative Cities Network would enable Metz to develop, broaden and share its endeavours in culture and music. It would also provide an opportunity to share its experience and initiatives with other cities across the Network, by opening up opportunities and international exchanges.
A consultative approach was taken when formulating the action plan for 2020-2024 - "Music as a lever for education, communication, development and inclusion" - in liaison with the various stakeholders in both the private and public music sectors, and in close collaboration with the institutional, economic and voluntary sectors. It centres on one key premise: placing music at the heart of an educational and social approach that is both inclusive and participatory. In keeping with its endeavours over the last ten years, the City of Metz has therefore opted to make education, development, communication and social inclusion in the field of music one of the key ways of enriching the community.
To achieve this, the City of Metz is proposing an action plan based on a number ofmajor components to be rolled out at local and international level.Contributions to the international Network
Metz is involved in a number of long-term international cooperation programmes on every continent.
Sharing expertise and educational cooperation
Metz wishes to share its expertise in music education and transmission and to take inspiration from innovative projects being tested in other Creative Cities.
Following on from the 1st Conference on Artistic and Cultural Education organised in July 2019, the City of Metz would like to organise for 2021 an international conference on the theme of music education involving the other Creative Cities.
In the field of overseas cooperation, the City of Metz is currently putting together a programme of exchanges with the City of Bogota, which from 2020 will include:
- a programme of training and technical assistance in Colombia in response to requests by local beneficiaries and Colombian local authorities ;
- exchanges between young Colombian and French musicians, who will work on a joint musical project, first in Colombia then in France; welcoming young people on long-term training residencies at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional [Regional Academy] in Metz. Metz hopes that by joining the Network, it will able to extend this type of cooperation by including other member cities. Contacts have already initiated with Brazzaville (with D. Bidiefono's Espace Baning'Art).
Interdisciplinary cooperation and exchange residencies
The City of Metz wishes to partner with other Creative Cities to answer calls for joint interdisciplinary projects and shared creative residencies. For example, this year a cooperation project with the City of Quebec was officialised for the period of 2019-2021, providing a creative cross-residency and highlighting the interactions between literature, performing arts, digital arts and music. From 2020 onwards, the City of Metz, through the Cité musicale-Metz, will be reinforcing its artistic collaborations, in particular with the cities of Ghent (B'Rock orchestra - Baroque music), Katowice (Maciej Obara Quartet - jazz) and Mannheim. These cooperation initiatives are only the beginning; other partnerships will be sought and offered to other member cities of the Network in the coming years. Talks are already underway with Kinshasa, Brazzaville, Dakar and Montreal.
Plans for an international study
Metz is currently considering launching an international study on the relationship between music and urban development. The aim is to measure the impact of musical life on sustainable urban development (audience usages and new practices, study of the audiences reached and not reached by the musical institutions, etc.). Metz wishes to work with several other cities in the Music Network to make a joint appeal for projects in 2020. A number of potential partners have been identified in the national academic world to lead this research project (University of Lorraine and the Centre Georg Simmel international research group at EHESS Paris). This study would benefit all the Creative Cities, offering a case study and cross analysis using the methods of quantitative and qualitative sociology.
Contributions to the Network at local level
Music for social inclusion
In partnership with the local authorities, the Cité musicale-Metz provides sustainable initiatives for collective music playing designed for children and young people living in socially-deprived areas :
- DEMOS 2, 2020–2023: overseeing two DEMOS orchestras comprising 120 children aged between 7-12 years over a 3 year period across Europe (Metz-Moselle East, the German community of Saarland and Metz, North Moselle and Luxembourg City).
- Introduction of experimental collective education and orchestral practice schemes involving Metz education services and the Cité musicale-Metz.
- An Academy teaching the vocal and instrumental techniques of urban music forms through collective practice, led by the BAM from 2020, aimed at young people in the city's "urban policy" neighbourhoods. Starting in 2020, this project will run for several years.
Musical education and practice for all – a "Cité musicale" for children
The City of Metz, via the Cité musicale-Metz, in conjunction with the Philharmonie de Paris (partnership agreement signed in June 2019), is working towards offering workshops for children aged 18 months to 12 years to give them the opportunity to discover music and sounds both vocal and instrumental in all their variety. The future "Cité musicale des enfants" is intended to be a facility with permanent spaces dedicated to multi-sensory activities and educational and play equipment. This will help to develop children's creativity and their ability to listen, pushing their imagination to the fullest. A preparatory phase (studies and experimentation) is planned over 2020/21. Work on the facilities will begin in 2022 and will be complete in time for the centre to open at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. This project will serve as a model to be shared with other cities, offering advice and expertise on rolling out similar initiatives, with the support of the Philharmonie de Paris and the Cité musicale-Metz.
Supporting professional training of young artists and artistic creation
The City of Metz wishes to strengthen its support for artists and their development through three types of initiative:
- New programmes for young artists embarking on professional careers, run by the Cité musicale-Metz: Impulse !, a programme supporting the artistic development of local groups and Gabriel Pierné International Conducting Masterclasses for young conductors starting out in their careers.
- Help to structure and consolidate means of production and distribution: setting up of a Current Music Cluster to help structure the non-profit music sector under the aegis of the Cité musicale-Metz, and support for 8 groups, helping them develop professionally by providing funding and premises.
- Provision of new spaces for artists through the creation of the Bliiida cultural third place , with its facilities for showcasing digital Performing Arts, hosting artists and artists' residencies, facilitation sites and rehearsal rooms.