Creating Mindsets for Concert Halls

The Art of Music Education (TAOME) is a series of international specialist symposia on the future of concert halls. In cooperation with the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and accompanied by the European Concert Hall Organisation, the conferences at the KörberForum have established themselves since their launch in 2008 as a central discussion arena on education issues in the European music business, and they initiate debates on the role of concert institutions in our society. You will find an overview of previous symposia here.

New concert venues have sprung up in many towns and cities around the world in recent years – exciting architectures, and some like the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg are now perceived as cities’ emblems. But what really happens musically in these houses? What kind of music is performed, in which form, and what kind of public audience is reached?

Cultural institutions can be successful only if they constantly develop in dialogue with society. Concert institutions should be attractive as public places with a meeting-point function for many different sections of society.

The changes in societies impose new demands on cultural institutions. With regard to publicly-funded music institutions, this means: How can we succeed in making concert culture in Europe lively, diverse and attractive to a changing audience, as well as in attracting new audiences?

To achieve this, music education must be strengthened as a holistically-understood, broad area of responsibility of concert institutions. With the symposium The Art of Music Education – Creating Mindsets for Concert Halls, we have offered a platform for professional exchange, good practice and networking between players from all over Europe every two years since 2008.