Text: Heidi Partti The article was published in Finnish in September 2018, translation in English in 202o.   Musical composition is for everyone “Isn’t music-making always creative, whether playing, singing or composing? Why should composing be singled out as creative music-making?” This question from the audience took me by surprise. I had just completed a one-hour lecture on the importance of composition in music education where I had used the phrase creative music-making multiple times. I had been talking about the new music curriculum that, among other things, advised music teachers at Finnish schools to offer regular opportunities for engaging students in musical composition. I had spent time encouraging music educators in various duties and at various levels in the education system to boldly integrate creative music-making practices into their teaching. For the audience at my lecture, the message had not been entirely clear. This is hardly surprising, considering
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Text: Markku Klami The article was published in Finnish in April 2019, translation in English in 202o.   Serving in elected posts in the field of music and working as a teacher have been significant for my professional composer profile. I have taught composition in basic education in the arts since 2001, both individually and in groups, and I have also taught subjects in the structural awareness of music broadly, from sight-reading through music theory, music history and music analysis to philosophy of music. At universities, I have given lectures, instructed teacher students and provided training for various parties particularly in basic composition teaching. In my capacity for instance as a member of the Boards of the Society of Finnish Composers and the Finnish Music Council, I have widely explored the field of music at home and abroad in the professional, education and amateur domains. My view is that a young composer should not only study composition but also acquire a
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Text: Pasi Lyytikäinen The article was published in Finnish in September 2018, translation in English in 202o.   Alongside my work as a composer, I have been teaching composition at all levels of education in Finland since 2000, from comprehensive school to university, in one-on-one tuition and in various workshops. My youngest students have been under 10 years old, and the oldest have been adults well established in their profession. At the time of this writing [2018], I am a part-time composition teacher at the Central Helsinki Music Institute. I have also coached composition pedagogy students at the Sibelius Academy of Uniarts Helsinki in projects such as Hear this, I’m a composer!, a project for children coordinated by the Sibelius Academy, and Digitarina [Digital story], a project for arts educators and class teachers. Student-oriented approach for beginning composers Students entering composition studies usually have at least one small composition of their own, or
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