Aina’s search for true connection with the audience and her belief in the social power of music has brought her to be an active collaborator in different musical social entities over Europe.
When opportunities did not exist, she created them: founding her own series of social concerts in her neighbourhood.
“Everybody deserves and can appreciate good quality music, no matter education, circumstance or social background”
“Music heals, music comforts, music brings joy” – Yehudi Menuhin
This quote was a formative experience of the world-famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin. The humanist and citizen of the world understood music not only as art, but as a contribution to a better society. This idea is the basis of the organization Live Music Now, which he founded in Great Britain in 1977.
Live Music Now conveys the conviction that music is also therapy, and in doing so promotes, particularly qualified artists. The music is intended to benefit people who cannot go to concerts due to their living conditions. Making music gives the listeners strength and comfort and is a formative experience for the musician that is important for a successful career.
The already twenty German, four Austrian and one Swiss association organize free concerts for people who live permanently or temporarily in hospitals, old people’s homes, orphanages, prisons, hospices or other social institutions. For these people, music becomes a bridge to life and offers help where language fails.
The Musethica method is rooted in the belief that making music is an act of communication between musicians and audience that cannot take place in isolation. Musethica activities reach 15 countries, including Germany, Spain, Sweden, Israel, Austria, China, Finland, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Ukraine. The basis of the method is giving the selected musicians daily performance opportunities during an intense period of time. Instead of a concert being the end result of an educational process, concerts become an integral part of this process. Developing a true sense of connection with the audience.
Over 85% of the concerts are performed outside traditional concert halls, in front of audiences who are not usually exposed to classical music and who may be unable to access traditional concert venues. They take place in refugee centers, prisons, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, care homes, homeless shelters, special education institutes and many other places. Musethica has a strong and direct social impact, providing free concerts of the highest quality to excluded groups in society, turning community centers, school halls and hospital common rooms into concert venues that are treated by the musicians in the exact same way as they would approach a concert in the most prestigious hall with the most discerning audience.
LMS is Denmark’s national competence center for professional school concerts. Our mission is to ensure that every primary and lower secondary school student experiences at least one live professional concert each school year.
Through high-quality performances by outstanding Danish and international musicians, LMS introduces students to a wide range of musical genres—many of which they might not otherwise encounter. Our concerts create meaningful artistic experiences and shared moments between musicians, students, and teachers, fostering curiosity, reflection, community, and well-being.
Each tour is accompanied by carefully developed teaching materials that connect the concert experience to relevant school subjects. Working closely with schools and drawing on strong national and international networks, LMS continuously develops and strengthens its concert offerings.
Founded in 1992 as an independent institution and funded by the Danish Arts Foundation, LMS delivers school concerts nationwide and is active in more than 90 municipalities across Denmark.
Fonds Voor Oost x Aina Font
When opportunities did not exist, she created them: founding her own series of social concerts in her neighbourhood with the support of Fonds Vor Oost in Amsterdam.
“Everybody deserves and can appreciate good quality music, no matter education, circumstance or social background”
Read the full article about her work at:
https://oost-online.nl/aina-font-brengt-muziek-naar-de-mensen-in-oost/
