Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart started with piano lessons when he was four years old. Ludwig van Beethoven also received his first music education around this age. Both wonder children were taught by their father, whose pedagogical methods left quite a bit to be desired by current standards. That is why it is good that there are music schools nowadays, where children who want to learn to play an instrument can go to qualified teachers.
Unfortunately, a clearing has taken place in the Netherlands in recent years under subsidized music schools. After the national government had first withdrawn from the financing of art education, it soon became apparent that many municipalities needed their scarce resources for something else than subsidizing musicians. Cultuurconnection, the trade association for cultural education and amateur art in 2021 stated that, of the 108 still existing music schools still existed in 2007, there were only twelve left.
Fortunately, not all dismissed teachers have come down to the suits, this week it appeared from a tour of NRC. Private initiatives arose in many cities to maintain music education. In The Hague, for example, there seems to be a real success story. After the subsidy for all music schools had been canceled in 2013, a group of teachers made a restart and now the music academy The Hague is a fully -flinging music school where 1,200 people take lessons.
However, this success has been achieved at the expense of the employment conditions of the teachers. They now work as a self -employed person or are paid via Payroll. That means: no money during the holidays, no pension. The teachers who choose this do so out of love for the music. Now the call of Euterpe, the Greek muse of the music, is extremely tempting, but not everyone can afford to practice a profession under these conditions. Many good teachers have therefore had to say goodbye to the profession in recent years, and that is regrettable.
In Rotterdam there is still a music school subsidized by the municipality, but the Stichting Kunstzinnige Vorming Rotterdam (SKVR) announced last month that it would stop with individual lessons because they have become too expensive. Fortunately, group lessons and lessons at primary schools continue to exist. In other municipalities, on the other hand, there is only one-on-one lessons, so that students do not get the chance to make music together-and that is the ultimate pleasure for everyone who plays an instrument. In addition, these types of private lessons cannot be paid for many parents.
Music education in the Netherlands is therefore under pressure, but the industry holds the use of passionate teachers and the willingness of parents. It is not incomprehensible that the municipalities that have to perform more and more tasks with less money decide to cut back on art education. It is worrying, because there is a time when both the development of talent in the breadth and the top is endangered. That would be a shame. Because whether they are a prodigy or not, whether they want to play the violin or rather drums – affordable, good music lessons should remain available for Dutch youth.