Since 2019, the Moz-Art-Zone has offered a variety of formats specifically for schools and school classes, designed as a door-opener for a young audience to complement the university's extensive calendar of events. Initially designed as a music education program, the concept for the coming semester spans an interdisciplinary arc that goes far beyond joint event attendance. "We started 2019 with a pure music education project, opening selected opera and concert productions to school classes. Then came Corona. Nevertheless, we have succeeded in selectively organizing really great events for schools, such as 'Carmina Burana' at SZENE Salzburg or the large choral concert 'Paulus' at Salzburg Cathedral, which were fully booked. This year, we are expanding the range of content and topics, because we also see great potential in other areas of art and in research at art universities," says Andreas Bernhofer andreas Bernhofer explains. The integration of the Moz Art Zone in the Department of Music Education is a "win-win situation in all directions," as Andreas Bernhofer, deputy head of the department, notes. "As a result, our students already benefit from the opportunities to gain cross-disciplinary experience in out-of-school teaching as part of their education. We left the formats completely open; the teachers and students chose the target groups, the topic, the scope, and the form for their offerings to fit the content. Our big advantage as an art university: young people can learn from young people. " Twelve tailor-made formats from the fields of music, opera and musical theater, visual arts, stage design and applied theater are available for selection in the winter semester; attention was also paid to optimal framework conditions for organization by the teachers at the schools. The content, in turn, is dedicated to current aspects of all art forms as well as socially relevant topics in diverse confrontations. The participatory theater installation "Pleasure Space", for example, deals with contemporary sexual education at eye level and focuses in particular on topics such as diversity, shame, desire and self-determination. In the course of the new production of Benjamin Britten's chamber opera "Turn of the Screw" based on a novella by Henry James, the Moz-Art-Zone offers the opportunity to attend dress rehearsals as well as to view and walk through the stage design with an accompanying workshop on spatial perception, movement in theatrical space and possibilities of effective design. The visit to the exhibition "Through the Rough to the Stars" in the art space Fifty Twenty aims to show young people how contemporary conditions and norms of contemporary art can be brought into view with the means of irony and humor. In the choral area, in close cooperation with the conductor Jörn Andresen , who frequently presents for school classes, offers are made both for joint choral singing and introductions to works. In the Haus für Mozart, on the other hand, the program already includes a visit to the large symphony orchestra concert of the Mozarteum University in October, conducted by Ion Marin. Before attending the concert, young people will have the opportunity to meet the ensemble members of the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra in person and to talk to them. In addition, this semester's Moz-Art-Zone offers gallery visits, workshops, conversations and encounters with artists* as well as moderated dress rehearsals. For Andreas Bernhofer, keeping his finger on the pulse of the times is a maxim in music education: "Communication is booming! The Salzburg Festival or the Mozarteum Foundation have great tracks for young people, almost all orchestras take care of this. We want to offer a good 'all-round package' in which we can also win over our audience of the future in the sense of audience development." Teachers can register their school classes directly with Andreas Bernhofer for individual offerings; for most of them, teaching materials are provided in advance for preparation in the schools. Andreas Bernhofer's aim is always to arouse interest. "With unusual, innovative approaches, it also becomes exciting for young audiences. There are so many events at our house, but many things remain hidden for young people. We can open this up with good, low-threshold communication. For me, our goal is also achieved when a personal connection between the students and art has been established. Our audience should feel that art has something to do with them, and that art touches them. The best moments come from surprises, when learning suddenly takes place in a concert, in the theater, in an exhibition, in a conversation. Irritations are also welcome … Anything that merely conforms to expectations does not create curiosity or excitement ." (First published in Uni-Nachrichten / Salzburger Nachrichten on October 1, 2022)
