BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

1)Please briefly present your organisation/group (e.g. its type, scope of work, areas
of activity and if applicable, approximate number of paid/unpaid staff, learners and
members of the Group

The Music School of Katerini is a state school located in Katerini, which is a town in the
north east part of Greece, about 80 km from Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in
Greece. The school belongs to the district of Pieria. Pieria is a historic area rich in culture
and traditions, set near the legendary mountain Olympus and the ancient city of Dion. It is
also a popular tourist destination, especially in summer, as it combines beautiful sandy
beaches with spectacular mountain view.

The Music School of Katerini was founded in 2000. At the moment there are around 280
students, selected with school entrance exams based on testing music and artistic skills
(only about one third of the students who apply can attend). There are about 60 teachers,
permanent staff, and about 30 non-permanent teachers working on part time and full time
basis.

Our school offers secondary (12-15) and upper secondary education (16-18) and the
students’ age ranges from 12 to 18. Our curriculum focuses not only on subjects of general
education but also on subjects of European, Byzantine and Traditional Music. Our students
have to learn to play at least three different musical instruments, two of which are
compulsory (piano and tamboura-a traditional musical instrument) and a third instrument
of their choice. They can choose from a wide range of musical instruments (piano, guitar,
violin, drums, flute, saxophone, trumpet, cello etc. and traditional such as bouzouki, lyre,
tamboura, kavali ,outi etc. It is worth mentioning that our students participate in different
music ensembles, bands, choirs and quite frequently take part in concerts, festivals and
events of both European and Traditional music on local, national and international level.

Emphasis is also given on foreign languages; all students learn English as their first foreign
language and choose between French and German as their second language. Furthermore,
the students are given the chance to develop their artistic skills through subjects such as
art, drama and traditional dances.

Our students are highly motivated to participate in a multinational European project and
communicate in the foreign languages they have learnt to speak improving their linguistic
and ICT skills in this way. By participating in this project, they will be therefore given the
opportunity to learn about different cultures and collaborate with students and teachers
from other countries to develop their national and European identity and literally broaden
their horizons
2)What are the activities and experience of the organisation in the areas relevant for
this project? What are the skills and/or expertise of key persons involved in this
project?

Our school has taken part in a European Comenius project entitled “Historical and cultural
richness assures a peaceful future” with multiple partners from Italy, Spain, Denmark,
Turkey and Poland as well as in two e-twinning projects : “Me and my culture” and
“Bridging cultures”. Both our students and teaching staff have benefited greatly from this
experience and became familiar with project working and collaborating on an
international level. It should also be mentioned that the students have also participated in
national educational and music projects and have won awards in competitions.

All the students of the school take lessons in traditional music and learn to play traditional
musical instruments. The school has a complete traditional orchestra that takes part in
various folklore festivals. This orchestra, with different configuration, depending on the
type of the traditional music, presents its work in various events organized by the Greek
Ministry of lifelong Education and Religion, the Prefecture and Municipality of Pieria and
our school which are open to the public.

Our music teachers are highly qualified and experienced both in teaching as well as in
performing. The school is also equipped with studios, music and ICT classrooms as well as
equipment for recording music and sound and software for digital sound and video
editing.

3). Has your organisation participated in a European Union granted project in the 3
years preceding this application? [Yes/No]

Yes

[The next section is available if the answer to the above question is “Yes”.] Please
indicate: EU Programme

1) Year: 2012-2014

Name: “Historical and cultural richness assures a peaceful future”

ID: 2012-1-TR1-COM06-36519 6

Applicant/Beneficiary Name: SABIT BUYUKBAYRAK LISESI (Turkey)

PIC NUMBER: 944394038