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Strings WorksopThe Strings Workshop was established in October 2006 as a programme of the Ministry of Education and Culture. It functions with the cooperation of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Foundation, and is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. It forms the initial stage of a comprehensive project for the development of young musical talent in Cyprus. This ground breaking and ambitious undertaking within the general sphere of cultural development provides opportunities for talented young Cypriot children to become involved in music and receive instruction on their instrument at the highest possible level. The Violin Workshop, the first phase of the project to be established, currently operates as part of the Music Workshop of the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra and at the moment teaches around 35 children from Nicosia and Limassol, aged between 4-14 years. The long-term objective of the Workshop is to discover children from all over Cyprus, aged between 3-10 years with a special talent in music and interest in learning an orchestral string instrument. Thus, through applying suitable methods of instruction, guidance and supervision, a young children’s string orchestra will be created in the near future, which can be expected within the next ten years to develop into an orchestra worthy of similar ensembles abroad. The Workshop functions under the supervision and guidance of the distinguished violinist and music pedagogue Matheos Kariolou, who visits Cyprus and works intensively with the children at regular intervals. In the intervening periods the teaching is undertaken by a small number of selected assistants. The children from the Workshop have already appeared with great success at various events and concerts. “It was a thrilling show both optical and acoustical. The young violinists managed to charm us with their melodies and proved that this land has talented children who can, with the help of the right professionals, the experience, knowledge and enthusiasm of a man internationally distinguished in his profession, to achieve something that we have never imagined could happen in our country... this must have been one of the very few concerts that have ever taken place here, where the emotion, the pulse, the joy and the pride have proven the audience’s sensitivities...” “We should stress that the decision to create this Strings Worksop is one of the best things that we have ever imagined for our country, for both young children and the very much needed cultural growth of our island.....watching the children entering the hall with so much joy, the way they were taking their positions on stage, but especially their excellent virtuosic use of the bow, they have assured us... for the future... All perfect, the sound production, the accuracy of rhythm, the collaboration, the general rendition of each piece.”  |
