Who Will Teach Our Children?
1. Current data from February 2025 suggests that schools are looking for up to 10,000 employees, with the most critical situation in the Bratislava region. At the Faculty of Education, we decided to take action and created 5 new study programs. Together, we wrote 6,367 pages and created 1,414,840 words. We believe that through these new programs, we will be able to motivate young people to become teachers.
2. Teacher education is a priority for us. At InMusic, we have prepared new courses in innovative education – based on experiential learning, designed for kindergarten, primary school, and music school teachers. If you are interested in how to effectively connect music, movement, and creativity in practice, we would be happy to welcome you to our courses! Interested participants can join the courses either in person or online.
3. For over 10 years, Superar Slovakia has been changing the teaching of music education in kindergartens and primary schools and creating children’s choirs. We are currently active in 6 kindergartens and 6 primary schools in various Slovak cities. We talked more about our work at Superar with Naďa Urbanová. If you know of a music teacher from Poprad or the surrounding area, please write to me. We are looking for new team members – teachers for the Veľká Lomnica area.
4. I had the composition Old Boys Anthology by Juraj Beneš on my piano for 10 years. When I first heard it, I told myself that one day I would study it. The dream became a reality, and in 2023, we recorded it live. In 2024 and 2025, the recording received excellent reviews in the Czech magazine HARMONIE, the Spanish SCHERZO, and the Slovak HUDBNÝ ŽIVOT. A good review always pleases a pianist. But when the review is excellent, and especially in foreign media, the joy is tripled. (Alternative: For a pianist, it is a joy when his work resonates – and even more so when it is discussed abroad.) You can order the CD here.
5. In December 2024, we experienced the largest-ever attendance at our concerts with the Ensemble Ricercata at the Slovak Radio. THANK YOU! Over 250 of you listened to J.S. Bach’s piano concerto, the world premiere of Lukáš Borzík’s piece, and Luigi Boccherini’s cello concerto. If you missed the concert, you can listen to the Music Workshop, where Janko Klim and I discuss J.S. Bach’s piano concerto, and read a review by Hana Chlebáková.
6. The next concerts I warmly invite you to: March 12, Nitra.
F. Schubert, D. Matej, B. Bartók, A. Pärt
7. In interviews, I present two pianists I admire and who have positively influenced my life: the First Lady of Slovak piano playing, Mrs. Daniela Varínska, and the French pianist Pierre Laurent Aimard. In the interview, you will also learn what question my twelve-year-old son, Tomáš, asked Pierre.
8. Musical greeting:
Arvo Pärt: Variations for the Healing of Arinuška
Thank you for reading our newsletter, and I wish you a pleasant week.
Ivan
If you want to support us, you can buy our CD, book, or sheet music, order innovative education, become one of our regular subscribers, or we can set your 2% to music.
