Hypermarkets, malls, bookstores, museumes, and company headquarters: these are the unconventional spaces where the great music of all time will be heard every day of October as part of the "Listen to 5 minutes of classical music" project, initiated by Radio România Muzical and carried out continuouslysince 2010.

Famous musical compositionsbecome part of the ambient musicproposed by the project partners,all performed by prestigious Romanian artists: most of them, recent recordings from the seasons of the National Radio Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra.

The project partners are important names in Romanian retail and business: Carrefour Romania, Cora Romania, Bran Castle, Mobexpert, Dedeman, CRH Romania, Cărturești Bookstores, Humanitas Bookstores, Iulius Mall from Iași, Timișoara, Cluj and Suceava, Palas Mall Iași, ParkLake Shopping Center and Băneasa Shopping City from Bucharest, PwC Romania, Avia Motors, Timpuri Noi Square, Business Garden Bucharest. With the support of Mood Media.

The "Listen to 5 minutes of classical music" campaign has an ongoing history of 13 years in unconventional spaces from all over the country. The first edition took place in October 2010 and since then, during the months of March and October, every day, the public had the chance to discover or rediscover the great opuses of classical music, in unexpected spaces, and debutsreceived in a positive manner by both customers and the employees of the project partners. Within the same project, concertswith Romanian musicians were also organized along the way, which recieved a great succes from the public.

Listen to 5 minutes of classical music in schools

From October 2^nd, the "Listen to 5 minutes of classical music" campaign returns to schools in Romania.

Starting with 2014, "Listen to 5 minutes of classical music" is a national program in Romanian schools, based on a protocol signed between Radio România and the Ministry of Education. In the last year of school, 2022-2023, over 220,000 students from Bucharest and 30 other places in the country participated in this program.

The principle of the campaign is simple: every week, the students are suggested two debut musical works and attached by it are explanations related to the composers and performers. The pieces can be accessed by teachers, through the countrycoordinators designated by thespecialiezed inspectors from each country, or directly, online, on the campaign's website www.romania-muzical.ro/5minute, where the children also have a contest related to the information provided each week.

For the 2023-2024 school year, the compositions from that week propose a chronological foray into the history of classical music, starting from the Middle Ages to modern composers, that way any participant will discover the great style of classical music and the most important artists.

Here are some conclusions sent at the end of the 2022-2023 school year by the Constanța School Inspectorate:

"An upward trend can also be noticed in rural schools, even if sometimes the implementation conditions are precarious due to the family environment which does not offer support in this cultural domain. However, the majority of students were interested, curious to learn new things, to listen to some other music genres. Most of the students said that the debuts helped them relax, to chill, tofeel calmer; some of them mentioned: "I actually didn't expect to like it so much!"

Still in the rural area, we have the following remark from the teachers: "Students were delighted by the idea of listening to music during breaks. At first, they didn't like classical music, but with time they got used to it and found it intetesting. They gathered near the speaker and waited for the song to start. The students were curious and asked questions about the project and the compositions they heard".

It was also seen some beneficial changes in students' behaviour: "I noticed that the students interacted in a different way than usual during the breaks, throughout the project. Thus, there were no more big conflicts or teasing of various kinds between students. We noticed a gradual increasein students' interest in classical music, which they perceived it as relaxing and peaceful.

The stories that accompanied the debuts presented information that facilitated the activities with a greater degree of appeal, aspect that had a positiv impact upon children.

The campaign was implemented by teachers who teach different subjects ( not only Music),the debuts being adjusted according to the lesson or the activities suggested that day. That way, even in the case of homerooms, the Math's teachers or with other majors, were able to carry out the debuts in good condition, noticing beneficial changes in the children's behaviour.

Many students listened to some genres for the first time and found them interesting; "some said that they will listen to it at home as well", "that they enjoy drawing with music in the background, that it inspires them", it helps them express their feelings (the students made drawings, poetry and writting while or after listening to music).

Students have changed their perception of classical music; they mentioned that they would listen to it at home, as ambient music or for studying. They said that they want the project to continue next year as well".

More inforamtion about this campaign can be accessed on the www.romania-muzical.ro/5minute page, where you can listen to both the songs proposed in unvonventional spaces and also to thosesuggested to students in schools.