On music education in Russia – read more in a Special View article

Music is not only an art form, but also a method of rehabilitation and socialisation of partially sighted and blind people. Music education is divided into three stages – school, college and university. Some of them offer training to partially sighted and blind students. In addition, there are education institutions specially created for such students. In this article of the Special Viewinformation portal, we will talk about music education in Russia.

The methods and conditions of work with blind and partially sighted pupils were discussed by teachers at a conference in Moscow. It was held in February at the Stasov Music School as part of the open festival for children and youth with disabilitiesMy Light is Music. It was organised by the Glière Music School for the fifth time. Teachers came from all over the country to share their experience and talk about their pupils and education institutions.

The first stage – school

The first serious introduction to music is in a music school. However, not every school enrols pupils with visual impairments. According to experienced teachers, such children require a special approach based on their individual pace and ways of learning. It has mainly to do with their inability to read printed musical notation and follow it during rehearsals. Blind pupils must learn Braille musical notation and memorise music pieces at once. According to teachers, many children with visual impairments are naturally predisposed to learning music, therefore, they often achieve a lot of success in this field.

In present-day Russia, there is only one music school specialising in training blind and partially sighted children. It is located in the city of Armavir, Krasnodar Region. The school was opened in 1989 at the initiative of blind bayan player and music teacher Alexey Sukhorukov at the local boarding school for blind children. The school offers training in the bayan, accordion, piano, domra, balalaika, guitar, cello, percussion instruments, as well as choral and solo singing.

The school teachers had to develop methods of working with blind children from scratch. They introduced special subjects: Braille musical notation, reading Braille music, printing Braille notation etc. Since the school did not have any textbooks or programmes of this kind, the teachers started studying Braille print and writing teaching materials themselves.

In the early 1990s, the school decided to start enrolling children without disabilities as well, which created a so-called reverse inclusion situation. Now sighted children study together with the blind and play in the same ensembles. All subjects are taught in inclusive groups, except solfeggio, which takes more time for pupils with visual impairments. However, if blind children are ahead of their peers and can work at the same level as sighted children, they are transferred to another group. For the most gifted pupils, teachers develop individual training programmes.

Over three decades, teachers and pupils of the Armavir school have come a long way. Children with visual impairments participate and win in music competitions, enrol in colleges and universities, and some of them even choose music as their profession. One of the school’s most successful graduates is jazz pianist, singer and composer Oleg Akkuratov, who, last year, won second prize at the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in the USA. The Armavir school's graduates also include opera singer Nafset Chenib, whose story we previously covered, Moscow Operetta Theatre actress Olga Kozlova, lecturer at the Russian State Specialised Academy of Arts Olesya Grinko and many others.

“I wouldn’t say that our programmes are adapted. The requirements remain the same for sighted and blind children. There's no talk of lowering our standard. And, maybe, that’s why our children, after finishing their studies, manage to enrol in secondary professional and higher education institutions and receive professional education,” said Alexandra Kutsenko, long-standing director of the school.

According to Alexandra Kutsenko, teachers deliberately encourage their pupils to continue their education at regular rather than specialised schools and universities. “Our children enter education institutions for the sighted, take part in competitions for the sighted, and, I must say, they win,” Alexandra Kutsenko said. She added that musicians with visual impairments often adapt very well in life: there are music bands consisting of only blind people.

Blind and partially sighted children dreaming of a proper music career travel to Armavir from all over the country. However, in addition to specialised schools, there are regular education institutions which also accept pupils with visual impairments. In Moscow, for example, for over 22 years, children with disabilities have been able to study at the Glière Music School. Together with sighted pupils, they are engaged in the creative process: they sing in the choir, play in ensembles, learn how to play instruments, study solfeggio, the theory and history of music. The school has a classroom equipped for such pupils, where they can, for example, touch the tactile portraits of composers.

Another Moscow school where visually impaired children study is the Svetlanov Children’s Art School. The school recently signed an agreement with the No.1 Boarding School for Training and Rehabilitation of the Blind. These education institutions are located close to each other, and both now offer training to aspiring musicians. Their pupils also receive awards at various contests and festivals, and graduates become professional performers and teachers.

In addition, for several years now, a branch of the Dunayevsky Music School has been operating at the No.2 Moscow Correctional Boarding School. Here, children learn the piano, guitar, singing and other music skills. There are also classes for blind and partially sighted children at the music schools of Saint Petersburg, Saratov, Rostov Region, Tatarstan and other regions of Russia.

The second stage – college

If music school graduates decide to continue their studies, they move on to the next stage, which is a secondary professional school or college. There are a number of education institutions that provide training for visually impaired people, but there is only one that specialises in this kind of education – the Kursk Music Boarding College for the Blind. The college originated from the music school founded in 1945 for people who had lost their eyesight during the war. Over the years of its operation, more than two thousand people have received education here. At any one time, the college has about 100 students and 50 members of staff teaching them. The college has choral conducting, instrumental and singing departments.

The college is equipped with modern technology, including a Braille printer, which can be used for printing notes. However, not everyone who enters the college knows this type of musical notation: it is not easy to master it, it takes time, and not everyone can do it. According to the teachers, it is one of the main problems. “Inclusive education has taken its toll. The shutdown of many boarding schools has resulted in the fact that many of our new students haven't fully developed these skills (Braille reading – ed. note),” said Alexander Ananyev, deputy director for education and social rehabilitation at the Kursk College. “To deal with the situation, we have two permanently employed translators of notes and two teachers of Braille printing.”

The college also trains people who lost their eyesight in adulthood. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing a music school can do in this situation, and it’s our job to take care of these people. As our teachers say, you have to fit a bucket into a glass, that is, within four years they have to master as much as possible,” Alexander Ananyev said. Also, he stated that, even in such cases, you can achieve a lot: some of these graduates have become successful musicians.

Partially sighted and blind musicians also enter other education institutions, including the Academic Music College at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Gnessin State Musical College. However, to be able to study at an unspecialised college or university, you need to be prepared for a number of challenges. First of all, their lecturers often have no experience in teaching visually impaired students and, sometimes, treat them with caution. Secondly, students are not provided with specialised teaching materials, and they have to look for them somewhere else. Also, the basic comforts, which are well thought-out at specialised schools, colleges and universities, are lacking here.

Anna Shagayevskaya, a teacher at the Glière Music School, told us about the challenges a visually impaired student faces in a regular education institution. She herself has studied at seven different places. “Studying at a regular education institution is very difficult. You will have to prove that you can do it. Nobody will create conditions for you. Even if they do, it won't be done in a nice way, and they might even try to get rid of you. They could give you high grades and apply lower standards to you. However, later the question will arise: if I graduated with honours, why is nobody employing me?” Anna Shagayevskaya said.

According to her, pupils with visual impairments should get primary music education in specialised music classes since their training requires more time. And the rest depends on the person. “If you are willing to study at a regular education institution, that's great, but you must be ready to explain how to teach you, and you should suggest ways of working with you,” Anna Shagayevskaya added.

The third stage – higher education

The higher education system also has a unique institution – the Russian State Specialised Academy of Arts, located in the west of Moscow (12, Rezervny Proyezd). The Academy’s music faculty has formed a folk orchestra, chamber orchestra and real opera theatre with experienced conductors, directors, orchestra, concertmasters, solo performers, make-up artists, stage designers, dressers, props, lighting and other stage technicians. The artists’ repertoire includes operas by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, Verdi, Puccini, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev.

People without disabilities can also enrol in the Academy. Here they have also adopted the principle of reverse inclusion as practised at the Armavir School. According to Yulia Antonova, Dean of the Music Faculty and head of the Instrumental Performance Chair, to become a student is not that simple: the competition amongst applicants to the instrumental department reaches seven people per available place. However, those who succeed and get enrolled perform on the most prestigious stages alongside the most famous ensembles.

The Academy offers education in the fields of musical and theatrical art, instrumental performance (piano, string and wind instruments) and sound engineering. The course lasts five years. Some applicants also manage to get enrolled in the preparatory department.

“In most cases, the majority of students from the preparatory department are then admitted to the Academy. They receive a scholarship and a place in the dormitory. We consider the preparatory course a very useful thing. When blind children enter the Academy and start living in the dormitory, they almost waste their first year of studies. They are overwhelmed with so many new subjects. It is almost impossible to learn them and deal with the new domestic environment at the same time. During the first year, they slowly fall into the rhythm of their new life and try to get used to their new environment,” Yulia Antonova says.

According to Yulia Antonova, the preparatory department can also help applicants to catch up with the stages of music education that they missed due to some force majeure circumstances.

Partially sighted and blind students are also admitted to the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), Moscow Academy of Choral Art, Moscow Pedagogical University, Krasnodar Institute of Culture, Voronezh Institute of Arts, Rostov-on-Don State Conservatory and other music education institutions. The list of education institutions accepting students with disabilities is available at incedu.ru.

Training peculiarities

Standard techniques are often not enough for teaching a person with visual impairments to play a musical instrument. Every teacher finds their own ways to convey knowledge to such students and ensure that they master it. First of all, all teachers emphasise that it is necessary for students to learn Braille musical notation, which is crucial for serious training. Teachers of the Glière Music School, of Moscow, shared their professional knowledge at the conference dedicated to music education of the visually impaired.

Violin teacher Sofya Turkovskaya described how she combines musical Braille with her recordings on a voice recorder. “In addition to me playing the instrument, I name each note and which finger is being used. If there are options, I specify the duration of the note and in which direction and for how long to run the bow. In the end, I always play the musical piece how it should ideally sound,” the teacher said.

According to the teacher, the main thing in teaching blind children is finding the right approach to each of them. “It's very important to start by establishing a trusting relationship. Since there is no eye contact, there is always a tactile and sound contact. And they should trust the person who regularly touches them,” Sofya Turkovskaya added.

Piano teacher Elena Rukavishnikova says that, amongst blind students, there are often children with cerebral palsy. It is very difficult to teach them to play well as they quickly lose their acquired skills. However, the teacher believes that piano lessons are extremely useful and therapeutic for such children. Elena Rukavishnikova starts her piano lessons by teaching blind children to navigate the keyboard using the black keys. “You can think up different games. For example, we have scout-fingers, which quietly move around, explore the area and report over the transmitter: here’s a barn(two black keys), and there’s a house(three black keys). We call the black keys high and the white keys – low. Eventually, children learn the terms blackand white,” the teacher said.

In present-day Russia, there are no textbooks that organise and summarise these techniques. At the conference, teachers agreed to exchange their experience and try to create a single centre to help coordinate their activities and accumulate various developments in this field.