Following on from the opening of the first Steinberg Reference School two years ago in Hamburg, Germany, the Steinberg Reference School initiative moves into the European arena with the opening of the second Steinberg Reference School in Venlo, The Netherlands.
The new Steinberg Reference School is a result of the close cooperation with the Dutch Leonardo foundation and the newly-founded StIMED initiaitive in Germany, whose full name is translated in English as Foundation for Innovation in Music Education. The mission of the new school is to support and nurture both musical creativity and technical competence in using IT-based media within school curricula. The aim of the Leonardo foundation is the establishment of a network of primary and secondary schools in The Netherlands that offers gifted children and students a stimulating and exciting learning environment. StIMED has
developed a set of guidelines entitled Musik & Medien – Music and Media – which play a central role in this project, which is unique on the European stage. Interdisciplinary music projects are carried out using digital technologies to encourage not only abilities to play musical instruments and work with multimedia, but also other key, non-musical abilities.
Steinberg?s Education Manager Lars Meding: “The first Leonardo school in Venlo, The Netherlands will also be a Steinberg Reference School, thanks to the unique and innovative nature of the music education concepts. This allows us to build bridges that connect the first Steinberg Reference School, a Hamburg secondary school in a socially underprivileged area of the city, and a school that focuses on optimally supporting gifted children in Venlo. It shows the full breadth and potential of creative music education that uses digital technologies.”
We would like to invite you to the opening ceremony of the second Steinberg Reference School in Venlo, and look forward to greeting you in person. Attending the opening will be Ms Sharon Dijksma, State Secretary for Education in The Netherlands, Mr Jan Hendrickx, chairman of the Leonardo initiative, Steinberg representatives as well as experts and
education professionals from schools and educational organizations.