A rich cultural and educational program, making new friends and inspiration in collective and individual lessons. All this in one working week awaited percussion teacher Vojtěch Toman and flute teacher Hana Vlasáková.
With a love for music and education, we accepted the invitation to an Erasmus+ job-shadowing, which gave us an insight into the cultural life in the magical city of Monzón in the centre of Spain. Monzón is located in the province of Huesca on the road from Barcelona to the majestic Pyrenees in the autonomous community of Aragon.
In the city centre we visited the Conservatorio Profesional de Música Miguel Fleta de Monzón, where we were welcomed by flutist and director of the school, Ana Maria Tur Salamanca, from Monday 3 to Friday 7 March 2025. During a morning of introductions and information, we learned details about the way music education is run in Spain. Students here complete four years of primary education in the morning and begin conservatory classes at approximately 3:30pm. In some cases they stay in school all afternoon. After four years of basic education, students take larger exams that can propel them into further professional music study. A conservatory student then completes six years of detailed artistic study. During our stay, we met with both beginners, labeled Elemental (EE), and professionals, in Spanish Profesional (PP).
During the following day, we attended collective lessons in music history, listening, or music education, as well as individual lessons. In flute playing, I was hosted by teacher and flutist Gemma Tripiana Muñoz, who introduced me to a different perspective on teaching as well as new techniques and tools for relaxed flute playing or fun games with the instrument during lessons. There was also a friendly and professional mood in Ignacio Bori García's class, who took Vojtěch Toman and involved him in the percussion lessons. Together with piano teacher Lorenzo, we visited the nearby town of Barbastro, where Lorenzo Otín Pintado introduced us to Spanish and regional culture and customs. In addition to the beautiful historic center, we also saw the bullring where the traditional Spanish Corrida match is held twice a year. We learned that the area in which both Barbastro and Monzón are located prides itself on red wine production, and we saw several family-owned vineyards on our travels.
During the following days we had a look into chamber music lessons in flute and percussion playing. The fun component of our visit was highlighted by the actual carnival that the teachers created for and with the children. At the beginning of the week, short performances, mostly by ensemble or chamber music items, were held in the foyer of the music school in conjunction with the carnival. The children and older students performed in carefully made costumes. Together we also visited a double bass lesson in which a senior professional level student was preparing for rehearsals which were held for all students in the week from 17 March 2025. Our visit to a Mini Banda rehearsal, that is a small orchestra and then a large orchestra, was also interesting. At the time of our visit the Mini Banda was preparing for a concert dedicated to the story of Miguel Fleta, the tenor for whom the school is named. At the rehearsal we could hear the opera aria Nessun Dorma from the last act of Turandot or an aria from the opera The Two Foscari by the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. During the week we managed to teach the children in music class the Czech folk song Ovčáci, čtveráci, which we managed to sing despite the different languages. The students enjoyed the unconventional song and the only small stumbling block to pronounce were the letters č and š. A beautiful end to our educational stay was the Thursday concert, which paid tribute to the forgotten women composers. The concert was held in the school's Auditorio San Francisco and featured many talented individual and collective performances. Many friendships were made during our stay and we are already looking forward to the students and their teachers coming to visit us in Vysoké Mýto.
Hana Vlasáková a Vojtěch Toman
