Video series #gis – basics for international students
Seven instructional videos with music theory content are now available. They are primarily aimed at international students on the artistic Bachelor’s degree courses and include videos from the areas of music theory and theory of musical form.
The videos were created as part of the project »#gis – Basics for International Students« which was funded by the DAAD as part of the STIBET II program. They were produced by our university’s International Office and are now also available as a seminar on the Open Music Academy.
Following this project, a new advice center was set up, which is responsible for the needs of international students: Lilli Jordan will develop new advisory and support services for this target group as part of the »internationals@home« project.
Federal Foreign Office awards prize for "Guest Studies Plus"
(Short Film about Project on Youtube)
Our university has been awarded with the Federal Foreign Office's award for excellent support for international students in Germany. Our programme "Guest Studies Plus for Music, Dance and Theatre Students from Ukraine" received the award, which is endowed with 30,000 euros. The prize from the Federal Foreign Office is one of the most important awards for supporting international students in Germany.
The programme "Guest Studies Plus for Music, Dance and Theatre Students from Ukraine" was launched at HMTM in April 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. With the aim of quickly integrating refugee Ukrainian students in the fields of music, dance and theatre into everyday university life in Munich, support and assistance was established in various areas. For example, the students quickly received individual artistic tuition and were able to take part in specific courses. HMTM also provided support in the form of accommodation, free meals, repairs and the provision of instruments, as well as a German-Ukrainian mentor network and language courses to help the Ukrainian students to settle in.
New university partnership with Stellenbosch University in South Africa
Photo (left to right): Prof. Markus Bellheim, Prof. Mario Nell, Prof. Lydia Grün, Dr. Bridget Rennie-Salonen, Martin Zenker, © HMTM
The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) has established a partnership with the music faculty of Stellenbosch University (SU) in South Africa. On June 5, 2023, Prof. Lydia Grün (President of HMTM) and Prof. Markus Bellheim (Head of the International Office of HMTM) met with Prof. Mario Nell (Dean of the Music Faculty of SU) and Dr. Bridget Rennie-Salonen (Head of the Woodwind Department of SU) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.
Prof. Lydia Grün: "This new partnership lays the foundation for faculty and student exchanges, research and joint projects with Stellenbosch University, an educational institution that enjoys an outstanding reputation within South Africa."
Prof. Markus Bellheim: "The new partnership with Stellenbosch University is a great enrichment for HMTM. The planned mobilites of teachers and students will enable valuable exchanges of experience, and mutual acquaintance with the musical cultures in Germany and South Africa through master classes, workshops and joint concerts."
Stellenbosch University is located about 50 kilometres east of the centre of Cape Town. More than 100 years after gaining university status in 1918, SU now consists of 10 faculties with more than 30,000 students. SU's Faculty of Music is one of the most important educational institutions for music on the African continent.
Expansion of Partnership with Gakugei University of Tokyo
Photo (left to right): Rebecca Gürster, Dr. Masayuki Nakaji, Prof. Lydia Grün, Prof. Markus Bellheim, © HMTM
A partnership between our university and the Gakugei University of Tokyo, the most important university in Japan for pedagogical studies, exists since 2004. This partnership included exchanges among teachers and scientific exchanges. Now the partnership will be further expanded.
On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, Dr. Masayuki Nakaji, Professor of Music Education at Gakugei University, Prof. Lydia Grün, President of HMTM, and Prof. Markus Bellheim, Head of the International Office at HMTM, agreed to increasingly focus on student exchanges in the future. Teacher training students and students of artistic-pedagogical courses from Munich will now have the opportunity to gain experiences in Japan.
Rebecca Gürster will be the first HMTM student to travel to Tokyo and study at Gakugei University in the upcoming winter semester 2023/24. Rebecca Gürster is studying to be a high school teacher at HMTM, majoring in piano. She has already learned Japanese for her exchange. She is particularly looking forward to immersing herself in Japanese culture: "For me, this includes not only musical aspects such as Japanese musical instruments, but also everyday things such as living in an international dormitory. I would like to participate in regular music classes at one of the schools on campus, as I'm particularly interested in how Japan approaches teaching music."
Gakugei University Tokyo was founded in 1949 through the merger of four state schools for teacher education. Since its founding, the university has become a renowned institution in educational training, being named a "Flagship University for Teacher Education" by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science in 2022.
Publication of Internationalisation Strategy
Photo: Oliver Reetz | DAAD
Our university explicitly considers herself as an international educational institution. On July 12, 2022, this was confirmed by the Senate through the unanimous passing of the Internationalisation Stratefy of the University. Important key points are the expansion of mobility numbers and strategic university alliances as well as the support of international students within our university.
You can read and download the Internationalisation strategy here.