Music is powerful – fun and humorous as well as compassionate and spiritually healing. Thank you for stretching the muscles of my boundary of definition of music and musical creativity. A GOOD workout for my mind-body-and-soul. And the wonderful synergy of the loving and daring music healers that I spent a week with! Thank you all for the creative wisdom and musical wit shared.

I found the training, extremely well paced, very thorough, and really useful.  With 360 degree teaching that built layer upon layer, with ever new depth and understanding as the week went on. Many thanks to the excellent facilitators, organisers for holding the space for us all with great care and integrity, and to all of the other participants for such a rich and invaluable experience. Big thumbs up for Akoesticum, what a beautiful environment to work rest and play in.

I am still in awe at how much we have done and learnt in such little time. This training has given me so much, both on a professional and personal level, and I will carry the knowledge I gained everywhere I go. My advice to anyone who is thinking of doing it – go with an open mind and heart and with a thirst to learn and grow.

To break it down:

“Musicians Without Borders uses the power of music to connect communities, bridge divides, and heal the wounds of war and conflict.”  This is the basic statement that inspired all of us to apply, and the participants selected (from all around the world) turned out to be the most compassionate, talented, and energetic music people one could possibly imagine!  The content was very well thought out from the beginning, and was also adjusted throughout the event to reflect the ongoing dynamics.  The result was a living collective organism undergoing rapid and joyous growth towards individual and group empowerment.   The presenters brought deep experience, proven skills, and an openness of spirit that testified in every way to the integrity of the organization and its purpose. I have every expectation that the human relationships created in these amazing five days will continue to support and delight me for a lifetime.

It was also delivered by dedicated workshop leaders with a variety of styles and approaches combining theory and practice, listening and doing. They gave us so much to think about! I’m really excited to imagine all the ways I can bring what I learned from MwB into my own work with conflict and community music.

I found that while working in (music) education and peace building, my emotional and pedagogical tools begin to show their wear and tear over time. I have participated in other projects with MWB that have helped to restock some of the tools needed so that I may continue working in this field. I firmly believe that I need to understand what I am using, how I am using it and where it came from. The ‘Training of Trainers’ allowed me to walk into the woods, plant the seeds, cultivate the growth and reshape the tools I can pass on to others the way some were passed onto to me. This was an opportunity for me to share as much as it was to learn and everything I do from this point on will benefit from it.

A perfectly balanced program that includes both theory and practice. For my work, I am sure it will help spread the ideas to my country, Ukraine, that is currently also in conflict as well as develop our work with Syrian refugee children and adults in the framework of our ongoing project Global Week for Syria. Empower, trust, create, connect, dare, inspire, shine and lead – this is what the training is all about.

Understanding more and more about teaching profoundly in conflict zones. Meeting all these great musicians from all over the world. Talking, sharing ideas and creativity, jamming. A big hurrah and chapeau to Musicians without Borders for organising this first training with all these experienced and wonderful trainers who already dare to work in conflict areas! Very inspiring!!