Calgary Philharmonic Offers Free Music Education Across Canada

You don’t often hear the word free when you think of education, especially for music. The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is looking to change that.

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) has entered into a
unique partnership with the French web-based music-learning platform, Meludia. Starting on
December 6, 2017 and for a period of one year, unlimited access to the Meludia web platform of
625 interactive music learning exercises will be made available free of charge to every resident and
visitor in Canada, a gift to the nation by the CPO and its Music Director, Rune Bergmann, who have
made it their mission to encourage and nurture music literacy in Canada. The CPO wants to enrich
the concert experience for all Canadians by fostering deeper engagement in music.
“Music is a universal language that knows no boundaries,” said The Honourable Mélanie Joly,
Minister of Canadian Heritage. “I am delighted that Canadians of all ages and backgrounds will
have access to this magnificent gift. This is sure to add a sweet note as we cap off this celebratory
Canada 150 year.”
When CPO Music Director Rune Bergmann first discovered Meludia he was inspired by its strong
pedagogic qualities and novel, cutting-edge approach to developing music perception, auditory
skills and acquiring the fundamentals of music.

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“When Rune first logged me into the Meludia platform, I was impressed at how intuitively interactive
and fun it was,” said Paul Dornian. “Meludia takes musical education to a new level and thanks to
this partnership and the support of a number of CPO donors, I am thrilled that we can make
Meludia available to Canadians and visitors to Canada who want to boost their musical education
or start from scratch.”
Starting today, anyone with a Canadian IP address can log into meludia.com and enter the
program free of charge until December 5, 2018. Canadians will benefit from the fun and
interactive learning exercises offered on the platform. By using the platform just 15-minutes a day
four days per week, a beginner should complete the ‘Discovery’ module in three months, the
‘Intermediate’ module in six months, and the ‘Advanced’ module in 12 months.
In connection with the launch and throughout 2018, a Meludia team from Paris will spend several
weeks visiting all regions of Canada, from the Northwest Territories to the Maritimes, introducing the
Meludia platform in schools, universities, community centres, retirement homes, Alzheimer and
Dementia centres, hospitals, and prisons. This roadshow aims to raise public awareness of the
importance of music literacy and the beneficial effects that learning music has upon society,
benefits which have been well documented in numerous studies. The intention is to introduce the
Meludia platform and its colourful and engaging exercises to as many Canadians and visitors as
possible.

More information is available here.