School year 2020-21: Making music on a whole new scale

We are delighted to announce that A violin can change the world will scale up dramatically in September 2020, as we launch the project in 35 new schools in the French département of Val d’Oise, northwest of Paris.

Some 2,000 Moyenne-level students (four- and five-year-olds) in Sarcelles, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Gonesse and Villiers-le-Bel will soon begin violin classes—a discipline that will help them develop a wide range of additional skills. With these new children, the total number of participants in France and Switzerland has risen to 3,200!

The expansion is the product of our work with the Val d’Oise office of the French Education Ministry, begun nearly a year ago. The new schools applied to join the program and were selected based on a variety of criteria, including how strongly motivated they were to become part of our team.

As a result, this week will be a very busy one at the Foundation, as children return to classes and new violin teachers swell the ranks. We’ve also created a Val d’Oise strike team to expand our presence on the ground and get the project off to a smooth start in the new schools.  You’ll hear more about them in upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, we wish everyone a successful start to the new school year!