Project
Where music makes exchange possible
“Making music together builds trust, opens up new perspectives and connects young musicians across cultural and geographical boundaries.”
The Cuban-European Youth Academy (CuE) is an innovative exchange and professional development programme for young musicians from Europe and Cuba. They work together continuously in transatlantic orchestral projects and workshops, receiving tuition from renowned teachers. As a complement to their training at home, they discover a new musical and working culture.
CuE was founded in 2014 by Thomas Hengelbrock and the Balthasar Neumann Academy. Since then, cooperation between the Balthasar Neumann Academy and cultural institutions in Cuba has been steadily expanded. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas have supported CuE since 2015.
CuE stands for cross-border transatlantic cultural exchange, cooperation and the promotion of young talent; for giving and receiving, hospitality, sustainability and continuity in education. Making music together provides a powerful impetus: the works studied introduce participants to one another’s musical cultures, while ensemble playing fosters listening, acceptance, sensitivity and openness.
“I would like to thank you for your longstanding and successful commitment to cultural exchange between Cuba and Europe. The project enriches not only the participating musicians and audiences, but also bilateral relations between Germany and Cuba, which can build on the trust and networks that have been created.”
Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister and patron of CuE
The Colla Parte Foundation supports the Cuban-European Youth Academy’s projects in Cuba. Current initiatives include regular masterclasses and a postgraduate course.
The masterclasses are open to all musicians and form the foundation of the programme’s work. In individual lessons, young Cuban musicians are taught according to the principles of the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles. This means considering the interaction of all the arts as well as the historical and sociocultural environment of each composer. Alongside individual tuition, the focus is on ensemble playing in formations such as string quartet, wind quintet and chamber orchestra. The masterclasses take place regularly at the Faculty of Music of the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) or at the Lyceum Mozartiano de La Habana.
Since 2017, the Cuban-European Youth Academy’s postgraduate programme, organised in cooperation with various Cuban educational institutions, has enabled young musicians to continue their training in their own country. Individual tuition and chamber music with teachers from the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles are complemented by theory classes and courses in performance and mental training.
CuE also regularly organises orchestral and exchange projects on both sides of the Atlantic. Half of the participants come from Cuba and half from Europe, and the programmes always include Cuban works from the relevant period. These projects also incorporate formats that communicate contemporary Cuban musical culture.
Several project weeks were planned in Havana for 2021 as part of the Cuban-European Youth Academy.
