The »Community Music Jour Fixe« sees itself as an open forum that provides an opportunity for exchange, practical testing of artistic-creative music-making and reflection on methods. It is a space for music practice that takes up and develops approaches from community music. Accompanied by lecturers from the Offenen Jazz Haus Schule such as Nick Klapproth, Moritz Schneider and Joscha Oetz, the Jour Fixe is both a jam session and methodological reflection for professionals.

In 2021 and 2022, the open forum was held on the first Thursday of each month in the concert hall of the Kölner Philharmonie. The Community Music Jour Fixe will be continued by the Offene Jazz Haus Schule in Cologne's Eigelsteintorburg (» Further information). In addition, the Offene Jazz Haus Schule offers the following further education programme:

COMMUNITY MUSIC IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
Sat/Sun, 12/13 August 2023, 10:00 - 18:00 in each case with Prof. Dr Alicia de Bánffy-Hall
Community Music in theory and practice (jazzhausschule.de)

The practice day »Community Music - Scope between music cultures, interpretation and free design« took place on 29 January 2022 in the Bildungswerkstatt of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. The aim was to highlight possible approaches for community music work and at the same time to promote dialogue between stakeholders. 

Community music is now conquering concert halls, universities and educational institutions in German-speaking countries. The topic of the practical day was the development of new forms of making music together in open projects. How can different musical starting points and backgrounds - whether in classical or traditional music, jazz or pop - become fruitful in such processes? What special skills, concepts, material and formal ideas can community musicians bring to the table? Can the ability to interpret classical, traditional or contemporary music serve as a starting point for new transcultural musical processes? These and other questions were addressed from various perspectives in practice-oriented workshops, presentations, video analyses and discussions.
 

The practice day was aimed at all musicians and educators who would like to learn more about this form of making music together or deepen their involvement with it. It was intended to provide a forum for interested stakeholders to exchange ideas, give participants new impetus for their own work and possibly even initiate new projects or initiatives.

Some of the speakers and participants share their statement on the importance of community music:

The following participants were actively involved in the practical day:

Juri de Marco (Stegreif-Orchester, Berlin)
Juan David Garzon (On The Spot, Utrecht)
Marion Haak-Schulenburg (Musicians without Borders, scientific associate Katholische Universität Eichstätt)
Matthew Robinson (Community musician, Konzerthaus Dortmund)
Cymin Samawatie (Trickster Orchestra, Berlin)
Prof. Dr. Franz Kasper Krönig (musician and sociologist, Technische Hochschule Köln)
Nora-Elisabeth Leinen-Peters (scientigic associate at Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Leipzig)
Johanna Borchert (academic staff at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg)
Antje Valentin (Landesmusikakademie NRW, Heek)
Matthias Witt (Projekt manager IN-D-IE Musik at the Landesmusikakademie NRW, Heek)
Ayham Nabuti (Projekt manager IN-D-IE Musik at the Landesmusikakademie NRW, Heek)
Joscha Oetz (director, Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Nick Klapproth (Community musician, Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Moritz Schneider (Community musician, Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Franzis Lating (Community musician, Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Kurt Fuhrmann (Community musician, Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Thomas Gläßer (Jazzhaus Akademie / Offene Jazz Haus Schule, Köln)
Anne Tüshaus (Head of music education, Kölner Philharmonie)

» Scientific documentation of the practical day by Johanna Borchert and Nora Leinen-Peters:

Music lovers of all ages developed a musical stage program together between the end of April and the beginning of June 2022. With or without previous musical experience, a sustainability-oriented performance was to be created. The open sessions took place in the districts of Kalk and Buchheim. Rehearsals took place in the sisters' choir of the Klarissenkloster in Kalk and in the St. Mauritius Gemeindesaal in Buchheim. The joint open-air summer concert took place on Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 6 p.m. at the Bürgerhaus Kalk. Participation was free. The musical director of the project was the composer Koray Berat Sarı. Lecturers from the Offene Jazz Haus Schule (Franzis Lating, Nick Klapproth, Moritz Schneider, Kurt Fuhrmann) as well as musicians from various musical cultures and the Dengê Destan ensemble (Nure Dlovani, Pauline Buss, Christopher Esch, Mehmet Vefa Yamalak, Koray Berat Sarı) were involved in the project. A documentation provides an insight into the development work, a film recording of the concert shows the jointly developed works and is intended to provide inspiration for your own realisation.

In collaboration with Koray Berat Sarı and the Offene Jazz Haus Schule, a collection of methods and arrangements was developed following the district project. This method kit is intended to provide anyone interested with initial materials and support for the initial implementation of community music approaches in their own environment. It provides exemplary basic material for working with heterogeneous groups in music practice.