In total, recent data of the VdM member music schools show almost 12,500 music school cooperations. Almost half of these were partnerships with schools of general education, often primary schools: 717 of 934 public music schools (76.8 %) cooperated with 4,100 primary schools and reachedaround 184,500 primary school children. Of the secondary schools, the Gymnasien are the largest cooperation partners: the musical education programmes made possible by cooperations of almost 400 music schools and around 700 Gymnasien were taken up by 23,100 grammar school pupils. The data of the VdM statistics 2022 refer to the entire calendar year 2021 and reflect the situation in the second year marked by the COVID‑19 pandemic. Overall, the number of cooperating partners decreased by 1,256 compared to the pre-pandemic calendar year 2019, while the number of pupil enrolments fell by more than 61,000.
38.2 % of all cooperations in the calendar year 2021 were with kindergartens and day care centres. 88,630 children attended the preschool music education programmes at 4,765 institutions. Active music-making with elderly people was made possible in cooperations of 90 public music schools with 158 retirement homes.
In addition, many local music groups are networked with the public music schools: 1,079 music clubs recently worked together with 264 public music schools and thus reached 11,330 pupils. In addition, there were cooperations between music schools and 124 churches and 72 choruses, which together reached more than 2,300 people.
Hinweis
The data is based on an annual full survey of the Association of German Music Schools (VdM) among its member schools; most recently these were 934 public music schools. Owing to a change of methodology in data collection, figures from 2014 on cannot be directly compared with those from previous years. Also, some extent of imprecision in the data of earlier years has to be considered. Figures from 2014 are based on a full calendar year (1 January to 31 December of the preceding year).
Footnotes
- The data reflect number of enrolments of the preceding calendar year 2021. Since March 2020, there have been pandemic-related restrictions on music school programmes.
- Measured against the total number of VdM music schools on 1 January 2023 (934 member schools).
- From 2014 on the categories of Hauptschulen and Realschulen were combined under the heading weiterführende Schulen (secondary schools).
Source information
Compiled and calculated by the German Music Information Centre from VdM-Jahresbericht 2022, ed. Association of German Music Schools (VdM), 2023, and various issues of Statistisches Jahrbuch der Musikschulen in Deutschland, published annually by the VdM.
