Intensive weeks are a key component of the TUNE project, which aims to develop an innovative joint European undergraduate module in traditional music based on a combination of physical and digital learning strategies. During each intensive week students and staff from all five partner institutions gather to exchange music traditions and collaborate through performances at a professional music festival.

Students deeply value the intensive week experience. Through working in small ensembles with musicians from different countries, students have commented that they learned more during one week about music-making, arranging, stylistic interpretation, and collaboration than what they have learned over several months of regular course work.

Laura Ellestad, coordinator of the TUNE project and lecturer at USN campus Rauland, affirms that participating in the intensive week provides students a unique opportunity to enrich their musical practice and broaden their worldview: “Our experience so far in the TUNE project has shown that students deeply value the intensive week experience. Through working in small ensembles with musicians from different countries, students have commented that they learned more during one week about music-making, arranging, stylistic interpretation, and collaboration than what they have learned over several months of regular course work.”

During the intensive week in Rauland, students will exchange tunes, rehearse together, and attend workshops, jam sessions, and concerts. “In addition to the musical activities, we are also planning to introduce our guests to the Norwegian winter landscape. We will be taking everyone on a snowmobile ride on Lake Møsvatn to attend a special concert by local folk musicians, and there will also be time for some outdoor activities like sledding,” says Ellestad. The intensive week will conclude on February 17 with a public concert by all TUNE participants at the Rauland International Winter Festival.