Music from here, lyrics from over there
(2017-2019)
LITHUANIA, ROMANIA, FRANCE
Lyrics from Here, Music from Over There is a large-scale project combining literary creation, translation, setting to music, creation and reheasal of a show, a professional recording, and its dissemination during concerts.
It is the result of the collaboration of three schools (from France, Lithuania and Romania) and it is taking place over 2 school years.
The main objectives are to allow pupils to get involved in a collective and international artistic creation, to develop their imagination, their entreprising spirit, their feeling of belonging to the European community, their practice of foreign langages, their oral fluency and comfort on stage.
The first year is dedicated to writing the lyrics in the French school during weekly songwriting workshops. These workshops are organised as after school activities, under the supervision of Papillon (a French singer songwriter) and Sebastien Polloni (a maths teacher, also a singer songwriter).
10 voluntary pupils take part in the workshop. They are selected according to their motivation and aptitudes at investing themselves in such a project. Alongside these workshops, the French pupils share their productions with their Lithuanian and Romanian friends (selected according to the same criteria and in the same number) through a blog, emails and video conferences.
The Lithuanian and Romanian pupils work at translating the texts as the writing goes on, in their languages and in English, under the supervision of their teachers (Vita Mèleniene and Iuliana Irina Stefura). They also start to write music, while keeping their partners informed of the advances of their creations on the blog and the content-sharing platform.
In May of this first year, the 30 pupils meet in the Lithuanian school to prepare a show of songs (2 in French, 1 in Lithuanian, 1 in Romanian and 1 in English) under the artistic supervision of Papillon.
This 5 day residence will then lead to a 2 day representation of the show, in the Lithuanian school and in local venues.
During the autumn of the second year, the 30 pupils meet in Romania for a 4 day residence to rehearse and then perform a 3 day tour of the show. The project then enters its second phase: the professional recording of the 5 songs.
In May of the second year, the Lithuanian and Romanian pupils come to France (where the preparation of the sound track has started) for 3 days in order to finalise the recording with the voice takes, mixing and mastering, followed by a four-day tour (5 shows) in the French school and selected venues.
Besides the pupils taking part in the transnational activities, around 2,000 people will be directly impacted by the dissemination of the project. It will allow each school to widen its outreach, and to have its aptitude at leading a large-scale international project recognised.
The pupils from the three schools will learn about other European cultures through music as a common vector.
This universal language will make them want to follow this collaboration or create new ones, thus developing their aptitudes to speak foreign languages, to become entreprising and creative, making each of them an active European citizen.