Standardised curricula for musical instrument makers in the Nordic and Baltic regions. 

The project aims to first develop a common framework curriculum covering all eight professional fields within musical instrument maker education. These fields comprise woodwind instruments, brass instruments, guitar making, violin making, piano technology, accordion making, church organ building, and music electronics. 

A comprehensive curriculum for brass instrument making will be developed.

The first year constitutes a foundational year, which also incorporates Nordic folk instruments in order to preserve and further develop the distinctive characteristics of national and traditional instruments. During this year, students specialising in piano, accordion, and church organ will also begin their training in instrument tuning. 

This is followed by two years of traditional instrument building, leading to a journeyman’s certificate and a bachelor’s degree. 

Students specialising in piano, accordion, and church organ will also continue their training in instrument tuning during these two years. 

The fourth year will constitute the introductory year of the master-level training, focusing exclusively on repair, regulation, voicing, and tuning across all instrument groups.

The project is carried out through team meetings, visits to workshops, and consultations with professional musicians, orchestras, churches, and related stakeholders to identify the sector’s needs for qualified musical instrument makers. The project includes two major partner meetings, with broad participation from the field. These gatherings bring together professionals from both the user side and the instrument-making profession. 

The aim of the project is to develop industry-driven curricula that can be implemented within education and training programmes across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Our partner in Germany is a major actor in the field of musical instrument maker education in Northern Europe, where the Chamber of Crafts (Germany) is represented by master craftspeople who serve on examination boards and hold formal responsibility for this type of education in Germany.

The curricula are also designed to allow students to complete their education in the Nordic region while undertaking parts of their studies in Germany, should they wish to do so.

This is intended as a pathway towards the establishment of a professional higher education institution in the Nordic and Baltic regions dedicated to the education of musical instrument makers. 

Project status:

Ferdig

Conclusion:
The project received formal approval from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), resulting in the establishment of a new vocational college for musical instrument makers in Fredrikstad.