YOUth Grow Report: What happens when you mix 15 youngsters from 3 different countries? Music!

14 Sep YOUth Grow Report: What happens when you mix 15 youngsters from 3 different countries? Music!

After the Transnational Meeting 2 in Italy, Paredes de Coura welcomed 15 youngsters from different nationalities in YOUth Grow, an event that aimed to put into practice some of the best practices in the music teaching field mapped and developed by the Play2Grow partners. 

During one week and surrounded by one of the most beautiful landscapes in North of Portugal, 15 youngsters from Italy, Spain and Portugal got together at CEIA – Centre for Environmental Education and Interpretation of Corno do Bico Protected Landscape, from September 6 to 10, to spend an unforgettable week exchanging experiences and enjoying several trainings and workshops related to music, which aimed to work on the development of some key skills such as communication, teamwork, self-confidence and creativity through music. 

Through an innovative approach, these youngsters learned to play live music for silent films with the musicians and trainers of Space Ensemble, one of the project partners, approaching improvisation techniques in music and other practices that helped them explore sounds and abilities that they don’t usually have the opportunity to explore in regular music education. They also had the opportunity to create a song together, taking advantage of the knowledge that each member of the group had to offer.

 

 

 

During the week, they had the opportunity to visit the village centre of Paredes de Coura, passing by places like the Toy Box and the Music Box, where School of Rock from Paredes de Coura usually rehearses and where they had the opportunity to listen to a rehearsal of the choir Coura Voce. They also visited the Cultural Centre and, as it could not be otherwise, they went to the site of one of the biggest music festivals in Portugal, the emblematic Vodafone Paredes de Coura Festival, in a guided tour that took them to the most beautiful spots of the Fluvial Beach of Taboão and Coura River.

 

 

 

This event was hosted by the Municipality of Paredes de Coura, and its Mayor Vítor Paulo Pereira commented the following regarding this event:

“Paredes de Coura invests a lot in the formation through art, in this case, through music, which is part of our identity. This international event is a good way to deepen the relations between countries and to reinforce the idea of a Cultural Europe that passes through the sharing of good projects”.

 

 

The week was not only about music. In addition to the exchange of experiences and knowledge, the participants highlighted that the international environment, with people from various countries, helped them to open their horizons and practice languages other than their own. EOSA, one of the project partners, completed the activities with a training about EUROPASS and its benefits for young people.

The week ended with the certainty that, despite the distance, all these youngsters will meet again, united by the friendship they created in Paredes de Coura, whose main link was music, an art much cherished and valued in this village, which once again proved to be the basis for providing unforgettable experiences.