IN ENGLISH

Working to bring live music to children and youth

Konserttikeskus (Concert Centre Finland) is a non-profit association established in 1963. Its aim is to arrange tours of high-quality concert programs for children in a wide variety all over Finland, mainly in public schools and kindergartens.

Concert Centre Finland arranges 3 concerts a day and many times the concerts take place in different schools. Concerts are usually held in gym halls in schools.

Are you a band from outside Finland and want to be taking music to children and young people? Read the application instructions below.

In the picture: HeartBeat Group, Denmark (2021), picture by: Ville Hautakangas

Live music for schools and kindergartens

Konserttikeskus organizes concert tours around Finland. The audience is children and young people. Konserttikeskus also creates concert productions and develops new forms and concepts for musicians to meet children and young people. In addition to concerts music related workshops are an important part of the activities. Konserttikeskus also organizes school concert festivals.

The number of organized concerts and other events varies annually between 1200 and 1700, with 150 000–200 000 children taking part in the activities of the association.

Many of our concerts take place through the Concert to every school model (more information below).

At the beginning of each year the program committee of Konserttikeskus chooses new music groups for the following school year. A producer goes through each new program together with the musicians before the tours begin. The number of programs for each season is nearly about 35 and they show a large variety in style and genre.

Konserttikeskus is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and the Finnish Music Foundation (MES) as well as some minor sources. Konserttikeskus has an annual expenditure of about 1 000 000 EUR yearly.

Konserttikeskus has currently four full-time employees and one working part-time. Konserttikeskus employs 100–150 professional musicians annually.

Best practises and projects

Below you will find information about Konserttikeskus projects and best practices. Click + to see more.

Konserttikeskus started a new way for arranging tours ”Concert to every school” as a pilot project in 2008 following the Norwegian and Danish school concert models. All pupils of over 60 municipalities can annually enjoy a school concert at the moment, the total number being over 80 000. The state’s Finland Art Award was conferred to the project in 2009.

There are about 70 municipalities that have committed to offer a concert to all elementary school students every year.

The municipality receives concerts from Konserttikeskus in low price. The total cost is based on the total number of elementary school students in the municipality and the price per student, which is determined by the size of the visiting band.

Concert for every school tours are organized in such a way that there are three school concerts on each day of the tour. We recommend that the maximum audience per concert is 150 children.

Students as producers of the concert model involves students in the production of a school concert or other cultural event. The participant can be, for example, a primary school class.

The model involves students in the production of the concert and enables a deeper school concert experience.

The operating model can be implemented in different ways, so for example the duration of the project varies depending on chosen method. On average, the group starts working a couple of weeks before the concert.

Konserttikeskus has a handbook for the model with detailed intructions. The group can be divided into three small groups based on tasks: hosts, technique team and information team. Konserttikeskus sends key chains for staff passes and students receive a diploma for their participation.

LIVE project offers a high-quality circus, dance and theater performances for the school audiences. Project aim is to promote the accessibility of performances aimed at children. The basis for the school tours is Konserttikeskus 60 years of experience in school tours.

All selected performances can be ordered at the Konserttikeskus subsidized prices. Prices are determined by the number of performers. The performances were selected by a separate jury consisting of performing arts professionals.

The tour dates consist of two performances which can be combined with workshops if the group of performers offers them. The project involves 12 municipalities from different parts of Finland, who receive the performances free of charge. The condition for free of charge is that the municipality commits to developing its cultural education plan with the Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers

The LIVE project is a joint project of Theatre Center, CircusInfo Finland, Dance Info Finland and Konserttikeskus. Project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Project has the aim of promoting the accessibility of performances aimed at children.

The LIVE 2 project, funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM), is a project managed by Konserttikeskus, with Teatterikeskus acting as a project partner.

The project is a continuation of the LIVE 1 project implemented in 2021–2022. The LIVE 2 project improves the availability and accessibility of performing arts performances and increases geographical equality during the academic year 2023–2024. In addition to traditional kindergarten and school concerts, the LIVE 2 project enables activities with new partners and the realization of concerts and performances for new target groups and new environments, such as hospitals and service centers.

More info: www.konserttikeskus.fi/live

The WOW Experience (WOW) is an exciting project that takes a closer look at professional performing art experiences in a school context. Given that the artistic integrity is good, what does it take for pupils to have a meaningful experience?

The project partners represent nine organisations from four countries and come from the school and art sectors. The partners involved in WOW have all witnessed the positive impact meaningful art experiences can have on pupils. It can bring about engagement and openness about sensitive topics, trigger critical thinking and spark creativity.

WOW will result in a Best Practice Toolbox for schools and art providers and will be made available on this website at the end of the project period (autumn 2023).

Best Practice Toolbox for schools and art providers here: https://www.vtfk.no/the-wow-experience/

Materials and hanbooks

Below you will find our materials and handbooks in English. Click + to see more.

Would you like to increase the participation of children and young people in your school’s everyday life? Do you want to organise arts and cultural events in your community?

This starter package gives you practical information and tools to implement Culture Crew as part of the operation of your educational institution.

Download Culture Crew starter package (pdf)

It’s nice that you are involved in the Pupils as Concert Organizers –project! This means that you are contributing to the cultural events of your own school. You ensure that all parties involved in the events – performers, pupils, teachers, parents and other people affected by the school – get to enjoy the events organized in the best way possible.

This handbook will help you with your tasks. However, each school decides how intensively the project will be implemented in their school. The division of tasks mentioned in the handbook is indicative – you can also divide the tasks between different people or work groups as you wish.

The handbook is divided into three assignment groups for pupils:

  • Organizers/hosts welcome the artists, manage the catering and act as presenters.
  • Technicians organize the performance space for the event and assist in setting up the sound equipment and lights etc.
  • Communication group ensures that information about the event spreads to the pupils, teachers and other staff of the school, as well as the parents, and perhaps also to the local media such as newspapers and radio.

Download Pupils as concert organizers handbook (pdf)

International cooperation

Konserttikeskus is an associate member of Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) and  a member of the Nordic Network for School Concerts. The international cooperation aims to increase the quantity as well as quality of concerts for young audiences and to improve the possibilities for the exchange of concerts between the European countries/regions. A stellar example of this cooperation was during 2014–2016 JMI’s Blackboard Music Project which was supported by EU’s Culture Programme Creative Europe.

How to apply for our program?

Foreign programs are selected based on free-