Since 2020, we have travelled throughout Norway, the Nordic countries, the Baltic region, and Germany to visit instrument makers, restorers, repairers, tuners, musical instrument-making schools, music museums, orchestras, music academies and more, in order to identify what resources exist and what the industry needs for the future. We have also examined the current educational pathways, including apprenticeship systems, journeyman qualifications, and master craft education. We have studied the need for restorers, repairers, and tuners. There is limited connection and collaboration within instrument groups, between the various groups, and across countries in the Nordic region and Germany. We see that some instrument-making professions are nearly extinct, due to the fact that production within certain crafts in the Nordic countries has almost disappeared.

Therefore, the reason professional musicians and orchestras struggle to obtain the services they require is that only a few individuals are qualified to build, repair, restore, and tune these instruments. There is a lack of educational institutions capable of providing the industry with trained instrument makers who can meet the needs of musicians and orchestras. The same challenges exist within the field of folk instrument making. Based on our findings, we contacted the Chamber of Crafts in Germany, as well as the musical instrument-making school and the guild in Markneukirchen, to invite them to collaborate on developing Nordic curricula in musical instrument making and related fields.

In early summer 2022, we were granted a project by Erasmus+ in Brussels to develop Nordic curricula that will enable students to undertake education in the Nordic region at the same level as in Germany. This means that students will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to become qualified instrument makers, ensuring that professional musicians, orchestras, concert halls and others can receive the services they require. Through student exchange between the Nordic countries and Germany within the same fields, education will be delivered at an equivalent standard. Bachelor/journeyman qualifications and master/master craftsman education will thus be aligned with the German system, while remaining firmly rooted in Nordic traditions and needs. 

We are currently in the process of translating the German curricula and have completed the overall structure for both the education programme and the vocational training pathways. More than 40 musical instrument makers across the Nordic region will receive the proposed curricula for review, allowing them to provide feedback. Ultimately, the German Chamber of Crafts will give its final comments and approval. This will enable German students to study in the Nordic region, and Nordic students to study in Germany. 

For the first time in history, the Nordic region will have a fully industry-driven education that can meet the needs of the music sector. In addition, work has begun on the development of guilds within the musical instrument industry, ensuring professional standards and quality control. These guilds will facilitate examination boards responsible for journeyman and master certification.

The education overview below is currently on hold, but once this curriculum development process is completed, a new industry-driven Nordic school for musical instrument makers will be established.