Agnese Slišāne

Q: What are the most fulfilling and most challenging aspects of your job?

The most fulfilling thing and what gives me the desire to continue working in this job is the opportunity to see the fruits of my work - the success and growth of students. It is a constant process of growth for me too. I must overcome a lot of challenges, such as changing environment and conditions, students come to the school with different backgrounds and experiences. In order to reach everyone, I have to be flexible and empathetic. For a successful learning process, I must listen, hear and see the needs of every young person.

Q: Please describe some examples (things you have personally witnessed) that show how music can contribute to civic engagement among young people. For instance, how through music do young people become more involved in improving their community, or more socially engaged and politically active, or concerned about global challenges?

Young people listen to the music, and they get a sense of belonging to their environment by attending various events. One example is the Song Festival, both local and national. It is an event and experience that unites everyone, allows you to understand the traditions of your homeland. It's a huge energy.

When we talk about young people becoming more involved in improving their community, I think about the environment in which I live and what I see. Then, in my opinion, not many of this type of values or changes are expressed through music.

Q: Please describe examples from conversations among young people (things you have personally observed) that show some of the different ways they discuss music.

I have noticed that young people usually do not discuss music much in class or in extracurricular activities. Maybe it happens in more intimate environments in smaller groups or in pairs. Mostly young people talk about what they listen to, what artists, groups they like, what they don't like, the most listened songs, share songs on Instagram, but I haven't noticed deep and extensive conversations about music.

Q: Based on what you have seen, how do such conversations change as young people mature (for instance, ages 15-17; 18-20; 21-25)?

I see the differences in ways how young people in different age groups listen to music. I have noticed that the youngest students talk less or don't talk about music at all, they have other more relevant topics. As young people get older, at about age of 18 the taste in music changes, they start attending not only pop music events, but also festivals, classical music concerts. There I hear conversations about music. They really talk about music, discuss it with a deeper and more emotional meaning, about the feelings that this music brings them.

Q: Based on your experience, have discussions of music and society among young people generally changed across years due to different historical conditions? If so, how and why?

What has changed is the availability of music. It has become much more international and diverse. Nowadays, foreign artists are very popular. The younger generation is rarely a fan of Latvian music. They listen to rap and HipHop, but has the discussion has changed? Probably not.

Q: Do you sense that a shared knowledge of traditional (folk) songs and dances is changing among young people, and if so, how and why?

Attitudes have changed. In my opinion, nowadays young people are more into traditional and folk music. Folk dances and Song Festival are popular again. The young people themselves have made them popular by stylizing folk dances and songs, mixing different music genres at different events. Compared to my personal experience when I was at school, traditional dances and songs were not so popular, it was not a stylish thing to do.

Q: What is the most interesting story you can share about how music impacts young people?

One of my students, who now is a 3^rd year student at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, when she started to learn at Ogre high school and attend my classes, I would describe her as an absolute child of music. At the age of 15 she already was a composer and traveled to an international music competition, where she performed works of other composers as well as her own. Music was her world. She talked about music differently than I had heard before. She called the process of creating music a meditation. She went to various concerts, was able to talk about music not only technically, but also to describe its emotional nuances, compared to her feelings. She also passed on this love of music to the people around her.

How music affected her life! I think she is successful in other areas because of her ability to discipline herself that she gained through music, regular and long-term training. As she herself said, she was not born with a strong musical talent, but with a love of music. Through this love of music developed musical talent. As well she said that through music you can reach other peaks.

In my opinion, music affects us through small, more mundane things. For example, it can soothe, inspire, give joy to do things. It doesn't have to be a huge or grand effect. As we know, it is through small things that the big things are changed.

Q: In what ways do you see social media impacting how young people use and communicate about music?

Social media plays a huge role in all areas. How well artists can advertise and market themselves through social media creates and shows their popularity, because young people practically obtain information only through social media. One of the most recent biggest influencers is TikTok, where young people make videos themselves. I hear feedback from parents that they like that their children create these videos, because they are actively engaged, they move a lot to the rhythm of music, develop imagination and creativity, and socialize. Of course, there are many risks that social media brings to young people not only through music.

Q: What kinds of discussions have you witnessed stimulated through instrumental music? Can you imagine some new ways this could be achieved?

Before the pandemic, we took the opportunity to go to Music for You concerts, where once a semester there were concerts with a very different program. The aim was to learn about culture and music. The length of the concert was one hour. Instrumental music was always included in the concerts. What I noticed is that for young people it is hard to listen to instrumental music. They need visualization, explanation. In these concerts, there was active collaboration between the musicians and the listeners, or visualizations on the screen, which was great. It was also difficult for young people to listen to opera music.

On the way home from the concerts, we discussed what we had heard and what we had seen. Discussions were more meaningful among high school students. Especially for those students who already had a music education, those who had studied in a music school. Then they talked about notes, music genres, centuries.

Feedback from young people without musical background was in two directions. Some said it was cool, but there was nothing more they could add. They didn’t have enough vocabulary and understanding to describe their feelings, because they had no experience of how to do it. Or the young people didn't like it because they didn't understand what they had heard, which is also a completely normal reaction. You have to get used to the new and get to know it. There was only one student who said that he liked it, but I think it was because he had been to these concerts for 3 years and already gotten familiar with them.

Q: What kind of new methods in work with young people would be helpful in your work? What should be the purpose of these methods?

I believe that discussions about music need to be encouraged. One good way to do it is through concerts, programs such as those I mentioned. Concerts should be free of charge or for a small fee, so that young people from low-income families from social risk groups can also attend concerts.

My experience shows that a person needs time to learn about new things and only after a while can begin to accept it or start to like it. It is important not only to listen to music, but also to get an explanation of what it is that they hear, why they should listen. Then there is a discussion and reflection on what is seen and heard. A language is created in which to talk about music.

I think that listening to different music genres and discussions should be encouraged from childhood. Children should be encouraged to talk not only about music, but also about other current topics. It would gradually develop young people's skills, means of expression and self-confidence.

When it comes to methods, I think it would be interesting to understand how to use music to increase efficiency and productivity in every area of ​​life, in different processes. For example, I have read that Bach's music promotes mathematical thinking, but it has no very scientific basis. It would also be interesting to learn more about how the student himself can use music to achieve higher results.

July 2021