European Fiddle Gate

We applied to address the lack of recognition for the diverse European folk music in adult music education. The project aims to professionalize this heritage by fostering sustained engagement among educators, promoting equal rights for all music, and creating a hybrid model for education. Financial support is crucial for prototyping physical and digital engagement, with an open-source web platform being key. Partners like Kulturbahnhof Leisnig and Society for One Music align closely with the project's goals. By creating a platform for exchange and learning, the project will enhance adult folk music education, benefitting both established and emerging educators, while also enriching European networks with underrepresented communities' methodologies and repertoire.

With this project, our objectives were: - Enhance adult folk music education in Europe by refining techniques and methodologies tailored to oral and notated traditions, particularly violin/fiddle music. - Foster a robust network of adult music educators, establishing a folk music working party under ESTA to uphold teaching standards and facilitate idea exchange. - Promote inclusivity by integrating musicians from underrepresented folk traditions like Sorbian and Roma communities, creating diverse teaching opportunities. - Provide emerging professional string musicians with access to the adult music education space, offering avenues for professional development, networking, and collaboration. - Launch a web platform to connect educators with teaching material, European folk repertoire, and collaboration opportunities, to enhance accessibility and enrich the quality of adult folk music education across Europe and beyond.

- Conducted physical meetings in Leisnig, Germany, involving adult folk violin educators and mentors, focusing on exchanging methodologies, repertoire, and experiences. - Refined 'Fiddle Gang Jams' concept as a non-formal educational tool, encouraging educators to implement them in local communities. - Organized Fiddle Gang Jams, supported by partner organizations, to test methodologies and repertoire. - in the process of establishing a Folk Music Working Party under ESTA, aiming to share folk education with broader audiences like classical string teachers. - Presented project progress and the formation of the Folk Music Working Party was started at the International ESTA Conference in Cardiff. - used the second Fiddle Gate meeting in Leisnig to reflect on insights, improve methodologies, and plan further development steps, including enhancing the web platform's content and encouraging local gatherings. - Contracted a web developer to create an interactive web platform connecting educators with teaching content and repertoire. - Engaged an external evaluator to assess project success and provide recommendations for sustainability and improvement, ensuring continuous monitoring and final evaluation.

-Two Fiddle Gate meetings in Leisnig, Germany, fostering exchange of teaching methodologies, creation of content for the web platform, and establishment of a professional network, including connections to the Sorbian and Serbian music community. - Six Fiddle Gate Jam sessions, enhancing methodology and fostering collaboration. - The web platform is live with 122 registered users and 481 folk tunes from 36 countries, facilitating exchange of teaching methods and content. https://fiddle-gateway.eu/ - Networking among folk educators, including collaborations with Galicia fiddle and Mia Marine online academy, Sweden, the widely recognized Belgian festival “Fiddlers on the Move”, and invitations for players from Serbian minority to teach in partner organizations in Slovenia. - Presentation of results from the Fiddlegateway conference to large international audience at ESTA UK, Cardiff. - in the process of forming a Folk Music Working Party, promoting networking, professionalization, and quality control in adult folk music education, ensuring continued development and inclusion of underrepresented music communities. This year the Slovenian partner will present the idea at the international String conference ESTA Porto.