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ʻListen to 5 Minutes of Classical Music' at the ʻMircea Sântimbreanu' Middle School in Bucharest
This is the way in which Maria Vișan, the music teacher of the ʻMircea Sântimbreanu' Middle School in Bucharest, describes the Listen to Five Minutes of Classical music.
The initiative run by Radio Romania Music since October 2010 proposes the familiarization of the large public with classical music through the possibility of listening to it in crowded and nonconformist places - hypermarkets, malls, companies' headquarters, but also in book shops, museums and now, most essentially, in schools.
Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, when there was signed the collaboration protocol between the Ministry of National Education and Radio Romania, Listen to Five Minutes of Classical Music has become a national programme in schools, which has also an active component for students through the competition organized on the romania-muzical.ro site, within the section dedicated to the project.
What do the students of the ʻMircea Sântimbreanu' Middle School believe about the Listen to Five Minutes of Classical Music project?
ʻI think this project is both educational and very interesting through the very fact that it underlines the existence of moments in our history which have proven that we are valuable through what we do. I listen to classical music because it inspires me, it soothes me and at the same time, I can also identify classical music in other musical styles, too.'
ʻThanks to this Listen to Five minutes of Classical Music project I must confess that I managed to study for a Biology test and get a very high grade. While listening to classical music all my thoughts disappeared and what remained was only the lesson, which made me feel good in my own way. I had no other worries. It was just I and the music.'
ʻI think that through this project, beside the music that we listen to daily, we are also learning about this kind of music - classical one - and this helps us discover our values more. It is a much more relaxing kind of music. It is a way to stand away from troubles and from everything that surrounds us. What remains is only you and the music.'
About the Listen to Five Minutes of Classical Music project, Alina Karina Nițu - teacher of Romanian Language and Literature at the same school in Bucharest - stated: ʻThe importance of classical music in their life equals the importance of everything culture stands for, the importance of literature or the arts. Children are more prone to absorb and receive these pieces of information than any other generation. This is the favourable moment in the developmant of human being and I am convinced that, if your endeavour will receive proper promotion, the impact will be made to measure.'
Translated by Manuela Cristina Chira and Elena Daniela Radu
MTTLC, the University of Bucharest