The 39th ESTA International Conference, 1-5 June 2011, Falun, Sweden: Back to The Future

This Conference was called BACK TO THE FUTURE. The title can be seen as an attempt to focus on some of the new problems with music teaching in general and string teaching in particular. In a world with an increasing amount of media and with general challenges in the field of education, it is natural that the conditions for educating young string players are changing. But it is possible that society must remind itself of the advantages in giving young people not only access to meaningful activities, but also the tools to express themselves and to develop their social skills. The main theme of the Falun Conference was to stress the role that all music teaching has had and can have in this field.

The activities, lectures and masterclasses that took place described these issues from a broad perspective. World-leading artists, folk music, municipal music schools, music as a social tool – not only from Europe, but also from the USA and Australia, all contributed to give these five days in beautiful Falun a truly rich content. In fact, in order to look further into what was accomplished during these days, we recommend reading the Programme Book, from which the following quote is taken:

Do we, in the future, need to look back to those days when teaching music to children was regarded as a great social and economic asset for society? Politicians will face this question.

Per Helders, Conference General of the 39th International ESTA Conference in Falun, Sweden, 2011.