The Conservatories in Israel Today Features, Achievements and Challenges: A Personal Retrospective of a Head of a Conservatory in the Center, with a Brief Reference to the Periphery

In this presentation I will draw an updated picture of a typical conservatory of music in the center, under the inspection of the Ministry of Education. What is the profile of the students, the parents and the teachers? What is the curriculum and how is it different from the early days of the state? Is it an integral part of the system of education in schools? What are the challenges of the Conservatory in the 21st century in Israel? In addition, I will describe the situation of the music education in a remote town in the south, based on my personal experience as a short time advisor, planner and teacher during this year. How far are those two systems from each other?

The main topic of this presentation is that we cannot speak anymore of one system of music education for all the population of children in Israel. The term "periphery" today is interpreted not as a geographic condition but rather as a cultural and socioeconomic condition. Therefore, music education systems in the periphery operate in a completely different reality than in the center and cope with different challenges, sometimes unexpected. Is the policy of the Ministry of Education aware of that gap, and does it give answers to it?

The innovation of the presentation derives from my personal experience in the area of conservatories. During the last 25 years I moved from working as a teacher in 3 conservatories, to establishing a conservatory in a new town, and later to become a head of one of the leading conservatories in Israel. Finally, during this year I`ve temporarily become a part of a growing system of music education in Mitspe-Ramon. My prospective therefore is relevant, deep and clear. Its` authenticity is due to the meaningful challenges I had to cope with and the important lessons that I`d learned as a result. My description of the systems I`ve worked in will emphasize the different realities that education systems work in, in central municipalities versus the periphery. Based on real encounters with students, parents, teachers and colleagues – my descriptions will be vivid and as authentic as no outside researcher can bring.