Intense days of singing and guitar on Corfu

Between 18 and 22 May, the Malmö Academy of Music participated in an intensive BIP project (Blended Intensive Programme) on the Greek island of Corfu. The week was packed with masterclasses, seminars, and powerful musical encounters between students and teachers from across Europe.

The project brought together participants from eight institutions in seven European countries. Travelling from the Malmö Academy of Music were Ann-Sofi Härstedt (Senior Lecturer in Voice) and David Hansson (Lecturer in Classical Guitar), alongside nearly the entire guitar class and a bassoon student. At the host institution, the Ionian University, they joined colleagues and students from Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Austria, and Portugal.

Intensive cross-border collaboration

During the week, students were paired up for voice and guitar duos, working with a repertoire spanning from the Renaissance to contemporary music.

– The intensive work culminated in two major final student concerts with an exceptionally high-quality result," says Ann-Sofi Härstedt.

Diego and Virginia — Diogo Alvarez, Malmö Academy of Music and Virginia Panagioutu, Ionian University

The week also featured a robust educational programme. Alongside individual lessons and masterclasses, Ann-Sofi led a session on the Elsa Technique for singers and guitarists. Furthermore, she chaired the concluding panel discussion together with David and two Master’s students, where topics such as stage fright, ensemble playing, guitar transcription, and the art of accompaniment were discussed. A seminar on the history of Fado singing, led by Artur Caldeira, was also highlighted as one of the week's major successes.

In addition to teaching, the faculty performed at concerts in churches and museums around Corfu. Among these performances, Ann-Sofi Härstedt and David Hansson appeared as a duo at the beautiful Archaeological Museum.

The experiences from the trip are described as highly valuable:

– It was a profound experience for both teachers and students to meet and share music and insights in this way! Future collaborations are already underway, and this coming autumn, the guitar class from the Ionian University will visit us in Malmö," says David Hansson.

Collaboration continues in Malmö

The exchange continues on home turf from 7 to 11 September. Korina Vougiouka (Professor of Guitar at the Ionian University) will then visit the Malmö Academy of Music with her Greek students to continue working alongside the guitar class here.

Participating faculty and institutions

Teachers corfu — Francesco Molmenti, Ann-Sofi Härstedt, David Hansson, Juan Carlos Lopez, Artur Caldeira and Korina Vougiouka

Korina Vougiouka & Roza Poulimenou – Ionian University, Corfu (Greece)
David Hansson & Ann-Sofi Härstedt – Malmö Academy of Music, Lund University (Sweden)
Giuseppe Pepicelli – Conservatorio di Musica ‘Arrigo Boito’ di Parma (Italy)
Francesco Molmenti – Conservatorio di Cremona (Italy)
Juan Carlos López – Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)
Artur Caldeira – Politécnico do Porto, ESMAE (Portugal)

Students also participated from:

Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama and Dance, Linz (Austria)
Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresden (Germany)

A Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) is a collaborative format within Erasmus+ that combines virtual sessions with a short, intensive period of physical mobility to foster international educational exchanges.