From June 10–13, 2024, we had the pleasure of attending the International Student Forum of the EAS, which took place in the wonderful Irish city of Dublin.
Monday, June 10, 2024
I’ve arrived in Dublin – finally! A little nervous, I made my way to the first meeting with the other participants of the EAS Student Forum. There are 14 students from various European countries, all eagerly awaiting what will unfold in the coming hours and days. After a brief introduction by our mentors Prof. Dr. Oliver Krämer, Prof. Dr. Branka Rota Pance, Tom Rousselet, and Àine Brennan, we dive straight into the activities. In small groups, we introduced each other to songs from our home countries – tunes that will stay with me for a long time and leave me with a catchy melody or two, like the fantastic Estonian song Kadriko. We then taught these songs to one another and made music together.
In the evening, after the work was done, we enjoyed a Buffet of the Nations – each participant had brought a typical dish from their country. The official part of the day is over – now it’s time for the first pub visit of the week!
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
We start the morning with an exciting workshop on incorporating AI into music classes and explore different approaches using the juno.ai application. Afterwards, we review the songs from the previous day and share the musical warm-up activities we’ve brought, as we are preparing to organize a workshop for the participants of the EAS main conference on Thursday. During our breaks, we repeatedly unpack the instruments we brought and jam together – after all, many talented musicians have gathered here. One of the highlights was definitely Matthew’s bodhrán (an Irish frame drum).
In the late afternoon, Àine shows us the most beautiful spots in Dublin, and in the evening, we go out for dinner together. The great thing about Dublin: traditional Irish music was played live in every pub – in contrast to the Spotify playlists often heard in the bars back home. It’s hard to believe that just a day ago, we were all strangers.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
A new day and many new impressions. Dr. Marita Kerin gave us an insight into an interdisciplinary project being implemented in Dublin, in which teachers co-teach their students. We also visited a music class for Irish primary school children – the energy of the teacher and the kids was overwhelming! We then used the afternoon to continue preparing our workshop. We selected suitable songs and warm-ups, and after some searching, we found a common thread.
After another intensive rehearsal, we went to the opening ceremony of the EAS conference, where we once again enjoyed Irish Trad Music performed by Queen’s Piper and Pope’s Fiddler, among others.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
The big day that we have all been eagerly anticipating and working towards. How will the interactive workshop go? Will anyone listen? Will the audience join in? And, above all, will we be able to perform all the many newly learned songs well? Long story short: It was great! We had a fantastic audience and a wonderful time, with lots of musical highlights. After our workshop, we had one last session together – and then came the bittersweet moment when we had to say goodbye to each other. Some participants stayed for the rest of the conference, while others had to leave already. By this point, we had become a tight-knit group. Or, as Matthew put it: “We came as strangers and leave as friends.”
The EAS conference takes place in a different country every year – next time, it’s Portugal’s turn. Seize the opportunity when it presents itself: Four days of intensive work and memories for a lifetime!
Nicolas Uhl-Sonntag (University of Augsburg, Germany)
