Children's symphony orchestra playing for teamwork and tolerance in Montenegro
Concert was inspired by the programme of development of socio-emotional skills
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PODGORICA, 25 March 2022 – More than 60 students of four music schools in Montenegro played together as the Children’s Symphony Orchestra in the Music Centre last night to celebrate teamwork, persistence, tolerance and empathy as core universal values of mankind. They decided to organize this concert together after being inspired by the programme of development of socio-emotional skills, My Values and Virtues, that has so far been introduced in more than 100 primary and high schools, with support from the Bureau for Education and UNICEF. The VIVUM concert was prepared with the cooperation of various music schools and professionals from the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, who supported the child musicians as mentors.
“We are young and we have just entered the world of art music, but music itself is responsible for 70 people on stage breathing as one, respecting each other and sending that picture to the entire people of Montenegro.”
His colleague from the Children’s Symphony Orchestra, Mateo Nicaj, a student of Vasa Pavić Art School for Music and Ballet in Podgorica, agrees with him.
“I think that there is too much division in the world that our generation belongs to, but art remains the most beautiful and transcendent area in which we are all equal. We practised a lot together, accepted our differences, tolerated and respected each other. That is how we become better people and that is why I want all children in Montenegro to experience these feelings.”
President of the Council of Child Rights, Dritan Abazović, congratulated students and teachers on this initiative. He shared his enthusiasm about this programme supporting children to develop empathy, tolerance and integrity, and to become team players ready to face challenges. This programme is a way to decrease violence, according to Abazović, as it makes children learn to manage their own feelings and to resolve conflicts constructively through dialogue.
“As the President of the Council on Child Rights, I am aware how important it is to support the socio-emotional development of children, as it allows them to see that differences in opinions make every society smarter – they make us see every problem from different perspectives and help us find a compromise more quickly", said Abazović.
"This is the way to build a more democratic and tolerant society in Montenegro and to ensure that today’s children of Montenegro grow into constructive and responsible EU citizens.”
For Martina Kovačević, a student of Tivat Music School, it was an immense pleasure to play in the Children’s Symphony Orchestra, because it was a completely new and beneficial experience for her.
“We had to be very united, patient and tolerant, but in the end – the result was excellent – we gained new friendships and tried something new.”
For the Bureau for Education, this concert is a good model of practice that all schools should look up to and work more together to promote teamwork and other socio-emotional skills among students.
“I would like to express my sincere satisfaction that, for the first time in Montenegro, students from music schools are not focused on winning one of the awards, nor are they focused on competitiveness, but rather on teamwork, cooperation and patience. Their high spirits, smiles and undisguised gratitude that they showed at the rehearsals during the previous months assure us of that.”
Kristina Pržica, a student of Vida Matjan Music School in Kotor, underlined the connection between music and the emotions she felt last night during the concert.
“I would like to point out two compositions that remind me of socio-emotional skills – Mozart’s concerto for flute in D major and Mashik’s variations. For me, these two compositions will always remind me of teamwork and patience, which is very important for us musicians.”
UNICEF Montenegro Representative Juan Santander was very impressed with the concert.
“It was wonderful to listen to the music played by the Children’s Symphony Orchestra tonight. I am confident that students from all music schools learned a lot about teamwork during the preparations for this concert. It is well-known that art and culture encourage social and emotional development. For this reason, UNICEF is calling for every child in Montenegro to be provided with opportunities to engage in art and culture.”
He reminded that almost two thirds of Montenegro’s children aged 9–17 have not been to a music concert in the previous year according to UNICEF supported research in 2018. The pandemic has only worsened this situation and so, providing more art and culture contents and activities to children all over the country is urgently needed.
Director of the Isidora Damjanović Music Centre was glad to host child musicians on the professional stage of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra.
"The VIVUM project is one of the concerts by which the Music Centre of Montenegro encourages cooperation between the members of our Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra and high school music students. With this inclusive approach, we are motivating children to choose music as their vocation,” Isidora Damjanović, the business director of the Music Centre of Montenegro, said.
With support from mentors from the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, more than 60 music school students played music to promote socio-emotional development of every child in Montenegro.
With UNICEF’s support, in cooperation with the Bureau for Education, the programme for developing socio-emotional skills was introduced into Montenegro’s education system in 2015. So far, it has been expanded to more than 100 primary and secondary schools supporting more than 20,000 students to learn to recognize their own and other people’s emotions, help each other and solve problems together.
