Bands, drums and bands of harmony traditionally enliven the communes, for commemorations, festivals, markets, etc. The result of local initiatives and from the outset crowned with a popular and friendly success, these ensembles are also (not always noticed) an opportunity for musical awakening, or even musical beginnings that can go very far. Sometimes unique cultural offer of a territory, the band unites people of all ages and backgrounds around common musical projects that animate entire landscapes and lead the speakers to local, sometimes national and international exchanges.
These harmonies look at the young audience’s awareness and training with an open and welcoming eye, based on the pleasure of “playing together”, the meeting of the other and of others on this occasion, and on the desire to improve more and more in this context. This is why they all have their own way of integrating young musicians who are apprentices or experienced, coming or not from music schools, conservatories, or simply from home, through often amazing initiatives.
We were interested in their methods: instrumental training courses embedded, for a week, in collective practice workshops, themselves enrolled in a festival with an exciting professional poster (Brass in the Ardennes, in Sedan), a group «Kids» integrated and tutored, for the year, by musicians confirmed with a small local harmony who do not hesitate to perform in Paris and abroad (Batuc Fanfar Brass-band of Casseneuil, Lot and Garonne), and finally, as a synthesis of the first two, the formidable work of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes federation around its president based in Cournon-Auvergne: instrumental practice courses, training courses for executives, construction of a programme of meetings and dissemination.
Three examples of successful projects, thanks to the support of the Fanfare Plan of the Ministry of Culture (DG2TDC), co-funded by the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT).
Great East: In Sedan, every summer, the brass at the center of eight exciting days
The association Brass in the Ardennes is the result of the idea of five young professional musicians who, seventeen years ago, wished to meet each year around a lively and happy workshop, to transmit to children and young people the flame that animates their passion for music. Since then, the project has grown. From 5 to 15 teachers for 86 interns over eight days in Sedan.
« The loyalty of many interns makes us feel that we have achieved something, entrusted to us Lucie Potron, the president of the association. Some came for the first time fifteen years, ten years, six years ago and come back every year. They were pre-teens and at the age of 20 they still have the same pleasure of playing here. We think that if this summer week the resources and keeps them all year round in the desire to share the music, it means that the bet is won. »
The educational project is here to create a meeting of amateur musicians of all ages (this year, from 8 to 74 years!) and all backgrounds (students of music schools, associations, conservatory, members of small amateur musical societies) with professional musicians. In the morning, instrumental practice, then various workshops (improvisation, direction, introduction to jazz, musical theatre, classical formations such as the quintet, and, of course, batucada copper ensembles and street band…).
All this leads logically to a great concert of restitution. « However, three years ago, we had the idea of putting our internship at the heart of an event that better promotes brass to audiences, by creating a festival which programs professional and amateur ensembles. Programmed artists can give a master class. Some belong to the teaching team of the internship. All Octotrip will come this year, eight professional musicians including Nicolas Vasquez who, for his part, is part of the internship. A wonderful duo will also come: Hélène Escriva (bass trumpet) and Pierre Cussac (accordion). Hélène will also be teaching all week long. »
As for the restitution concert, it is not forgotten. It takes place in a festive morning at the botanical garden and then in a concert evening, before the festival’s final rendezvous: the «Copper Night». « Last year, one of the teachers, scheduled for this event, invited the trainees to play with him: a highlight! »
Nouvelle Aquitaine: Years of travel and learning from a dynamic Lot et Garonne music company
Located in Casseneuil, a beautiful town of 2500 souls, located on the edge of the Lot close to Villeneuve, the Batuc Fanfar Brass-Band came from a group created in 1948 by its inhabitants. It was at the time a clique. It grew and became a band. Twenty years ago, it was time to renew the repertoire. The small musical society gradually evolved into batucada and, since then, we added our own style » explains Jean-Marie Bufferand, the president of the association, by joining the batucada (Brazilian percussions) the dimension of the «brass band» (brass band, in English, taken over and transformed into «dixieland» mode in New Orleans).
This joyful crossroads of musical traditions only required hybridizing with the powerful spirit of the Southwest. It was not the fruit of chance. In 2011, the small band offered a stay in Quebec for a dozen concerts and exchanges, including its participation in the international percussion festival of Longueuil (Montreal). Since then, the taste of these musicians for exchange and discoveries has not been denied: annual participation in the international samba festival of Coburg (Germany), invitation of the Bayern of Munich for the animation of one of its matches, South-West ambassadors for the animation of floating markets on the banks of the Seine in Paris, world cup of university music in Indianapolis in 2019… nothing scares the Batuc Fanfar Brass Band, where everyone is strictly volunteer, as long as he discovers the other and gets better.
But it was also necessary to walk on a second leg: to give the desire to the young people of Casseneuil and the surroundings to play music, even to come and play at the Batuc, which welcomes them with open arms. The Institution Saint-Pierre, in Casseneuil, wanted to take up this challenge: create a section «Orchestra at school» where every year the CM1, CM2 and 6th come to discover music differently. But we could go further, with the help of the fanfare plan of the Ministry of Culture, and to mark the 75 years of the group: propose to a voluntary primary group CM1, CM2 and 6th («the Kids group») an initiation and immersion in the associative world, local and musical, thanks to meetings with other junior groups, to discover any type and style of music. Give an intergenerational dimension to these moments of discovery by organizing tutorials (a young musician in instrumental discovery/ an experienced musician of the association).
« For the music festivalsays Jean-Marie Bufferand, and to close this season of the group Kids, we organize a musical meeting of three groups (orchestra at school, junior orchestras), to make workshops in common (and especially a workshop of multirhythm ») followed by a concertA beautiful lesson in common sense, pedagogy, a culture of desire and dynamism that deserves to be praised and imitated!
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: A regional federation working on 12 departments around Cournon d'Auvergne
« We wanted to federate musical associations that wanted to move forward, » explains Didier Martin. He runs the Conservatoire à rayonnement communal de Cournon d'Auvergne, located 10km from Clermont-Ferrand. He also runs the band battery of this conservatory, which he created in 1982. At the same time, he participated in the creation of the Auvergne federation of batteries and bands, now known as the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes federation, bringing together associations of 12 departments, member of the French Confederation of Batteries and Band (CFBF) was set up in 1981.
« These associations are usually found in rural areas or small towns where the drum band remains the only form of collective musical practice, open to all, intergenerational, rooted in a territory. For them, to train more and better, to radiate more intensely, is a guarantee of vitality.
« Therefore, training is our main activity! Training of young people, of course, but in an intergenerational context. If these formations are sustainable, indeed, it is thanks to this mix of ages. For example, we organize musical development courses, but also training courses for executives, desk conductors and orchestra directors.
« These courses are of course aimed at amateurs for whom there are no prerequisites. We take artists where they are and we try to take them further, with the hope that they in turn transmit. »
In terms of distribution, it is clear that a band is naturally asked to animate the life of the city. « It’s nice, but it’s not enough! We put all our efforts into offering bands the opportunity to vary their playing fields. We encourage them to deepen their associative, artistic and collective project, in order to get ever closer to people. To support them in this regard, we founded a fall festival, DiverSons, with a competition for small copper or percussion ensembles.
« Moreover, these festivals allow amateurs, especially when they are far from the cultural offer, to meet professionals. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture (DRAC Auvergne-Rhône Alpes), for example, we were able to invite Alexandre Jous, which had an extraordinary effect: some ensembles then used the fanfare plan to buy horns from the Alps, and this not to play Swiss melodies, but in the idea of proposing real creations. »
Other festivals strengthen the vitality of the entire community, including, in May, Europa Fanfare : ' More than 700 musicians from 5 countries, 8 regions and 16 departments for 3 days at the Zénith de Cournon d'Auvergne. We had the pleasure of bringing together for the occasion an ephemeral drum band: 120 musicians. And heritage side, the reconstitution of a Napoleonic battery: 35 drums, 70 musicians of harmony. » Finally, let us also note the creation, three years ago, of a national youth orchestra, which is part of the Europa Fanfare concerts.
The fanfare plan
With the four national federations (Sports and Cultural Federation of France, French Confederation of Batteries and Bands, Confédération Musicale de France, Union des Fanfares et Ensembles Musicaux - UFEM France) and thanks to the co-funding of the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT), the Ministry of Culture launched and implemented, over 2021 and 2022, its Plan Fanfare », renewed in 2023, intended to support these amateur trainings according to three main axes: the accompaniment of artists, the development of exchanges (partnerships, collaborations), finally the encouragement of structuring and radiating initiatives in a widened territory (even without limits!). 514 projects were supported in 2021 and 2022.
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