It’s always tough to have to cancel our activities, but unfortunately, due to budget constraints, our Music Connects Summer School will not take place this year.
It is a huge shame to cancel this incredible week of music-making with students from both Mitrovica Rock School and Roma Rock School, but sadly our current financial situation does not allow it.
Since 2008, the Summer School has brought young people together in Skopje to mix, mingle, and make music together. The very first Summer School laid the foundations for Mitrovica Rock School, and gave young musicians from both sides of the Ibar a safe space to meet those from the other side, at a time when Mitrovica was too unsafe to allow this.
Aside from the pandemic years, we have always sought to make this magical week a success for the young people. And we tried hard this year too, but the challenges at the moment were too big to overcome.
If anything, this demonstrates just how valuable and fragile our programs are. We nor those attending our sessions anywhere in the world can take any of our activities for granted. This is what it looks like when funding for peacebuilding and development dries up, and at the end of the day, it is the young Serb, Albanian, Romani, Macedonian, and other musicians that lose out, and to them, we can only apologize. While we will always strive to deliver our programs in full, there are always factors that are out of our control.
Our goal now is to ensure that Mitrovica Rock School and Roma Rock School can continue their daily music programs. Your support can help make this possible.
We will continue to strive and work towards a Summer School in 2027.
