In October 2019 we spent a long weekend in Helsinki, this was the ImMusic team’s very first international project meeting. We were so excited about it, we were finally able to meet the partners we had previously contacted only via email.
The atmosphere was friendly from the very first moment. The president of the school, Pedro Aibeo, picked us up with his land rover at the bus stop in the typical Finnish landscape.
During the two-day professional work we got to know each other, the participating organizations and the project implementation schedule. Particular emphasis was placed on mapping the features of music programs to be developed that can be used in youth communities and on the division of tasks between the partner organizations.
We worked on setting dates for the next meetings and programs by scheduling the testing of the elaborated music sessions. It was also important to discuss the basics of budget and communication with our partners. During the two days we were able to accomplish the tasks we had undertaken, the evening walks, the common BBQ and the dinner and sauna in the old mill building made the meeting especially memorable.

During the first workshop after launching the ImMusic project, we only started to think at an experimental level about how the concept could work in an environment where the participants had not yet encountered the basics of music. Since this is a new field even for us, first of all, embedded in the course of the workshop, as a relaxing exercise, we selected tasks that could even be suitable for the final collection of the project. We tried simpler melodies, one-two-part African arrangements and rhythm exercises with the participants. Even during the first testing, we considered it important that the participants could also get involved in the creation of the exercises, that they could also initiate a rhythmic turn or melody, which the group would take over and pass on.

Dr Ágnes Horváth, representing Hangkeltő Alapítvány and Kristóf Monostori, representing Tudatos Ifjúság Alapítvány had a presentation on the ImMusic project informing the experts about the project and the possibilities to enrich community activities by the toolkit elaborated during the programme. The participated leaders of youth communities were seriously interested to participate at the test period next spring.