Glen Coutts

Professor, President

Professor of Applied Visual Arts Education, Department of Art Education, Faculty and Design, the University of Lapland in Finland
President of InSEA, the International Society for Education through Art

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Glen Coutts began his career as a community-based artist before becoming a teacher of art and design in secondary (high) schools in Scotland. Serving as President of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) [2019-2025], he is also a Professor of Applied Visual Arts Education at the University of Lapland. He is a working artist and writes regularly about issues in art and design education. From 2010 to 2016, he held the position of Principal Editor of the highly regarded International Journal of Education through Art. He has published widely and is editor or co-editor of over 20 books, including the Relate North series and the Learning Through Art anthologies. Environmental and community focused art are key areas of interest. He was a founding member and vice-lead of the Arctic Sustainable Arts network from 2011 to 2023. The United States Society of Education through Art presented him with the ‘Ziegfeld Award’ for outstanding international leadership in art education.

Professional Societies: Innovative Spaces for Learning?

Abstract

My talk will be in three parts. In the first section, I will introduce the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) as a global community of art educators, and it will pose more questions than answers. In what ways can we champion the place of art education in schools, universities and communities? How can we ensure that we share and promote best practices in art education? What strategies can we implement to ensure that art educators receive subject-specific professional development at all levels and in all contexts? During the presentation, I will explore how InSEA itself can be a valuable educational resource. I argue that, especially in the world today, professional societies are essential ‘innovative spaces for learning’ (Coutts et al., 2024).

The second part will include my personal thoughts on the goals of (visual) art education and what I believe is important in 21st-century art education. This section will discuss my teaching experience in high schools and teacher education, as well as my research in community-based and environmental art. I will report on the research happening at the University of Lapland in northern Finland. The Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (www.asadnetwork.org) will be a significant focal point in this portion of the lecture.

The concluding section will ponder the future of art education, considering recent educational developments and the fragile geopolitical state of the world. For example, I will consider the impact of external pressures on art education, such as the recent UNESCO consultations on Futures of Education or the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Prof. Szilvay Géza

Professor, Violinist, Conductor

East Helsinki Music Institute, Sibelius Academy
The Helsinki Strings

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Prof. Géza Szilvay, born in Budapest, Hungary in 1943, studied the violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and Pedagogics at the Budapest Music Academy where he graduated in 1966. He also studied law and political science at the ELTE University in Budapest and took his doctor’s degree in 1970. In the 1960s, he played violin in the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and the first violin in the Szilvay family quartet, which was a well-known ensemble at the time in Hungary. He also taught and conducted the Children and Youth Orchestra of the Hungarian State Radio and Television. In 1971, Géza Szilvay started to teach the violin at the East Helsinki Music Institute, Finland and he served as Principal of the institute in 1984-2010. He also taught at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 1978-2010. In 2012, he embarked on an ongoing project “International Minifiddlers” where his Colourstrings classes are broadcast in real time through a video conferencing system across the world.

Géza Szilvay is the creator of the internationally renowned and successful Kodály concept based Colourstrings teaching method that has been documented in 42 publications. Over the years, he developed the method step by step constantly revising and adding new elements to the material. The Colourstrings method interlinks the development of musical hearing, musical intellect, instrumental technique and the emotional world of a child and applies the principle of reinforcement of perception through joint functioning of the senses. Right from the start, he added group lessons and string orchestra training to individual tutoring.

In 1972, Géza Szilvay founded The Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra (now known as The Helsinki Strings). Géza together with his brother Csaba Szilvay trained and conducted this string ensemble until 2010 and recorded 28 albums under Fuga, Finlandia, Apex and Warner labels. During these years, The Helsinki Strings have gained worldwide recognition through 38 international concert tours.

Szilvay’s method of teaching soon had a strong impact on musical education in Finland. A large portion of his students have become professional musicians. He has inspired young parents and little kids with his TV programme “Mini Fiddlers in the Music Land” in 55 episodes broadcast in the 1970s and 1980s by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. Violin pedagogical elements were slipped into the screenplay through visits to various places in the Music Land.

Géza Szilvay gained international recognition not only as a violin pedagogue and creator of the Colourstrings method but also as an educator and conductor of children’s and youth orchestras. For 10 years, he headed the annual Prima Nota festival in Kuhmo, bringing together young string players from all over Finland and practicing and performing age-appropriate repertoire with them.

He has given more than 200 lectures and workshops on his teaching method and philosophy in Europe, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, USA, Canada and Australia.

Kodály based art pedagogy for strings in Finland

Abstract

Our desire was to create a child-centered violin/cello tutor book which nevertheless met the expectations set by Zoltán Kodály: harmonious and constant equilibrium between the development of musical hearing, instrumental technique, music theory and emotion. Singing, hearing, playing, reading and understanding are inseparable: this was a real challenge to us as the architects of these violin and cello schools.

The temptation to teach the instrument without the burden of reading was real: such an approach brings quick and attractive results at the beginning but we have observed that it can deprive the child of the complementary development of technique, intellect and emotion by reducing the complex activity of string playing to little more than imitation and copying movements. Undoubtedly, reading does slow down progress slightly in the early years, but sight connects the learning with the brain and raises the child’s artisanship to an intellectual level. Knowledge that is achieved through more than one sense is deeper and more long-lasting.

It was obvious for us that standard notation should be translated into the language of the child. The creation of a child-centered notation system would dispense with the burden of reading and would hopefully serve as a motivation for the pupil. To achieve this goal, we coloured the notes, presented the rudiments of music theory visually and simplified the stave system. The children’s response was very encouraging! Their reading developed without difficulty and due to this ability, the art of playing chamber music with others was an early possibility.

The little melodies and songs of the violin school were scored in an outstandingly beautiful way by the composer László Rossa. The Colourstrings duos, trios, quartets, sonatas and orchestral pieces complement the instrumental tutor books. The passing decades gave us truly remarkable pedagogical and artistic results: We felt more and more that it was our vocation to educate musical generations who, besides being proficient in playing, were and are unselfish, social individuals with a feeling of responsibility towards their friends, colleagues and environment.

These violin and cello tutor books and the associated chamber music repertoire have stood the test of time over more than forty years. An astonishingly high number of children have become soloists, chamber musicians, orchestral players, music teachers and high-level connoisseurs of music with the help of Colourstrings, not just in Finland, but increasingly also in other lands where Colourstrings is taught. This is the reason for our desire and belief that this Kodály based teaching system will bring pedagogical and artistic happiness to every new generation of children, teachers and families.

Prof. Szilvay Csaba

Professor, Violoncellist, Conductor

East Helsinki Music Institute, Sibelius Academy
The Helsinki Strings

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Csaba Szilvay, born in Hungary, is a cello pedagogue and - together with his brother Géza - founder and long-term conductor of the Helsinki Strings.

He studied the cello at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest as a student of Prof. Antal Friss. After having received his diploma in Budapest in 1970 he studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Prof. Erkki Rautio.

Csaba Szilvay has taught the cello at the Jyväskylä Conservatory in Finland from 1971 to 1976, the East Helsinki Music Institute and the Helsinki Conservatory since 1976, then the Sibelius Academy since 1978.

Csaba Szilvay and his brother Géza Szilvay have gained international recognition both as string pedagogues and as conductors and educators of children's and youth orchestras. They are authors of the Colourstrings method based on Zoltán Kodály's philosophy, which at present comprises 40 publications, and they have given hundreds of lectures on this teaching method and philosophy all over the world.

In recognition of their work for youth culture they were awarded the Knight Order of the Finnish Lion in 1981, The Culture Prize of Finland in 1983, The Hungarian State Award for Cultural Activity in 1990, the Culture Prize of Helsinki in 1995, the Pro Musica Award in 1999, and the International Kodály Prize in 2007, the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 2011.

Colourstrings Cello (MUSIC)-teaching

Abstract

1. Microcosmic work, SINGING from the very beginning! From 2-3 notes music; - Pentatonic music (hemiton too); - Diatonic music
2. FORM - analysis: same, different, variation, 5th down; 5th up (golden section)
3. Transposing, Transforming.
4. SING and PLAY! DUOS (with yourself)
5. Improvisations:
   1. BOOK “A” the blank pages - simple compositions of the students
   2. BOOK extra “ABC” Compose! (Effects too)
   3. L. Rossa: Rascal 5: improvise cadenzas (teaching the Absolute Notes)
6. New for Cello-teaching:
   1. beginning with the HARMONICS (perfect intonation) 2 octaves above the open string: “SUN” position. SO` - MI; LA´SO – MI DO - LA,; REDO - LA,; LA-PENTATON.
   2. 4th position (includes the harmonic 1 octave above the open string.) SO -Mi = DO-LA: TRANSPOSING: fingers: 4-1; 2-0; 0-3. the same in the 1st position, later in the “BIRD” thumb position (1 octave higher) and In the “MOON” -position (1 octave and a 5th higher)
   3. later: extensions + 2 possibilities.
7. Beginning of POLYPHONY.
8. DAIILY CELLO TECHNIQUE:
   1. BOW exercises: portato, détaché, legato, staccato, martellato, spiccato, ricochet, sautillè
   2. FINGER exercises: in “Bird”- “Moon”- “Sun”- positions.
   3. SHIFTING exercises: "left hand legato” (Prof. A. Friss), Jumping with the fingers. In 2 octaves.
   4. VIBRATO exercises: with Double-stops HARMONICS, later with stopped notes.
   5. Modal transforming
   6. Acoustic (Overtone) Scale transforming
   7. Harmonics in Various Positions
   8. Mode-exercises
   9. INTONATION exercises: Heptatonia Tertia (Lydian scale with augmented 5th and 6th).
   10. TONE QUALITY EXERCISES.
9. PIATTINI: One bar - one page - one lesson
10. Chamber Music:
    1. Games: bi-tonality (LA`SO-MI. +. REDO-LA,)
    2. Intervals
    3. Polyphonic GameS
    4. Scale Games
    5. Seven Colours of the Same Scale (TA-DO-RE-MI-FI-SO-LA)
11. PRIMA VISTA (sight-reading) material for Books A-B-C-D-E-F-G and Chamber Music