IN.TUNE’s first year: Raising awareness

NMH staff who are already involved in the alliance have participated by promoting the alliance's work on a stand while offering coffee and snacks to students and colleagues. On Monday the IN.TUNE team presented themselves on a stand in the foyer, led by Renate Hauge Sund, Head of Division, Academic Affairs and Research – and NMH Institutional Alliance Manager.

She says the week has been fun and amazing, and it has been an excellent opportunity to meet both the students and academic staff at the Academy.

– It's so great to see the contribution from all parts of the institutions. We have all been working together for this common goal.

On day two, the theme was new teaching methods. How can we connect with students and teachers in other institutions through digital tools that makes it feel like you are actually in the same room? And how can this contribute to innovation in learning and teaching Head Engineer Morten Forsland talked about the real t? Head Engineer Morten Forsland talked about the real-time audio video systems LoLa and MVPT Low Latency, along with Senior Lecturer and music technologist Håkon Kvidal.

– The idea is that some instruction and masterclasses can happen across IN.TUNE partners through one of these systems, Morten explains.

He emphasizes that all the institutions wish to use the same system to streamline the process. According to the engineer, the delay is up to four times less than Zoom.

– This makes playing together with very high sound and image quality possible.

Music pedagogue and Senior Adviser Ellen Stabell was also sharing her IN.TUNE work on the Wednesday stand, emphasizing a soon-to-come call for student projects.

Go international

On Wednesday, the stand was run by Miriam Rintelen and Ragnhild Sandbakk Nordberg from NMH’s international office, promoting opportunities in mobility and exchange between the IN.TUNE partner institutions.

– These are institutions we know particularly well and who know us too. We can give extra good advice about them, Miriam says. Ragnhild adds:

– And we know that they wish for both students and employees to participate in the mobility programmes.

On Thursday, it was time for the grand finale, picking up all the threads from earlier in the week. Students and staff presented their perspectives through an informal panel chat, offering lunch and cake and celebrating IN. TUNE's first anniversary.

Vice-Principal for Education Gunnar Flagstad shared that IN. TUNE received select which proposals will receive funding for developing the format. The final result will be published in 66 proposals in the last call for new educational formats. In a meeting in Paris last week, representatives from all institutions came together to make the selection of which proposals will receive funding for developing the format, and the final result will be published during February. He also spoke about the plans for joint master programmes, joint modules, joint online courses, and blended intensive programmes (BIPs).

Ellen Stabell also returned during the panel chat, telling audiences about the Artist as Teacher programme, a capacity building programme for teachers from all institutions that will take place every year. She also spoke about including artists from other art disciplines that will look into more innovative ways of learning and teaching music in the future.

Professor Sigrid Røyseng is working with colleagues from the other institutions on societal engagement. She asked:

– What is our societal role? How do we contribute to society, and how does society challenge us?

According to the professor, lifelong learning and continuing education are central to these questions. She also mentioned how students find their place in professional life and develop sustainable careers, along with topics such as audience engagement, diversity and inclusion.

– Especially since we tend to be a bit of a homogeneous group in institutions like ours, she added.

Elise Sløgedal is a master's student, jazz singer, and not least, a student representative in the Alliance. During the panel, she encouraged her co-students to get on board.

– The incredible opportunities that exist through IN.TUNE are for us, so it's so important to get involved.

Bachelor student of choir conducting Lucie Lou Camps chimed in, emphasizing how the students’ voice is a voice that counts in IN.TUNE. Lucie is also the president of SUT, NMH’s student committee and on the alliance’s Governing Board.

Both Elise and Lucie are members of the IN.TUNE Student Council, which, among other things, discusses aspects of the different work packages.

– The student council is a great way to connect with different institutions. And it’s nice to see that music students in other countries have exactly the same struggles as we do here, Lucie says.

At NMH, the different student teams and students met approximately one month in advance—hey, it was just before the Christmas holidays!—to get messages, people, equipment and printed merchandise on site.

The students initiated the awareness week and were at the core of the planning. To make the most of showing the power of the alliance without making it too complex in an already busy month, it was decided to just spend the lunch break, for four days. And to agree upon being available for questions from all students and staff!

The importance of planning together, getting panel speakers, booking tech support, ordering a birthday cake(!), and scheduling the making of a small video, was key.