More Creative Europe

The topic is not only central to music but to the whole area of the arts, according to Professor Andreas Sønning, who has a strong passion for art and music's relevance in society, as well as the connection between the arts and the market. European Creative Futures (ECF) is perhaps what we can call the apple of his eye.

Sønning points to the fact that we educate a high number of candidates within this field, but there are few fixed positions. He thinks that strong professional environments act as protectors of quality, tradition and artistic integrity and that it is vital to take this further and put it into relevant frames across sectors and target groups.

– Many performers and creating stage artists rely solely on public support in their professional life and don't think of themselves as contributors in the market.

Furthermore, he says that the EU has expressed clear expectations and demands towards all institutions providing higher education, to include innovation and entrepreneurship. Several international surveys (like PolyFonia AEC 2014) have concluded that the music field, especially, has not responded adequately to this.

– In 2023, the need to renew education and competence is even more relevant after a several-year-long digitalisation process and new conditions for the music industry.

ECF has already existed as a selective course for quite some time at the Academy, but this year, the gathering's visiting experts are extra prestigious. The guests have knowledge and experience from academia, the arts and business. During the week, they will follow up with the students, giving them exercises and challenges through lectures, workshops and talks. In addition to entrepreneurship, other important topics, like sustainability and ethics, are on the agenda.

From the epicentre of classical music, Wien, the Norwegian Academy of Music will receive ECMA-pioneer and Vice Principal at the Universitat für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Johannes Meissl. Dr Breda Kenny from the Munster University Business School and Roderick Udo from the Utrecht University of Applied Science will take care of the business perspective. Kenny has over 25 years of experience teaching entrepreneurship and has been published in several international journals. Udo has researched financial instruments in the music industry.

Local forces will also contribute. One guest lecturer is pianist and researcher Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, who recently wrote a comment related to the Academy's study programme dimensioning. Principal Astrid Kvalbein will also be present, along with other dedicated contributors, such as alumni Dragoș Cantea, and current master student Jón Arnar Einarsson, who has already achieved success using the knowledge from Andreas Sønning's courses.

Other guest lecturers come from Finland, Ireland, Spain and Norway – the majority members of the Erasmus network, that ECF is part of.

Between the rivers of knowledge that will fall upon the participants, ECF has made room for a reception in the City Hall with Mayor Marianne Borgen, a gala dinner and sightseeing in the Norwegian capital. Perhaps it is not strange that Prof. Sønning is very enthusiastic about the project.

– We have registered a high level of documented artistic and academic knowledge among both our international partners and ourselves, he says, and adds that the Norwegian Academy of Music is, of course, very proud to be the eighth-best performing arts institution on the international QR ranking. – At the same time, we must dare to evaluate and change our goals, content, and workflows to the benefit of the value of music in the society of today and the future.