Kosovo Musical Project
Music schools and classrooms lack instruments, music and music education supplies as well as modern pedagogical training in addition to ability to repair the instruments that they do have. The KMP aims to sustainably assist music educators, students and schools by sending materials and giving training.
We train a new, self-sustaining generation
We send experts to Kosovo to train a new generation of teachers in modern pedagogical methods by giving teacher training workshops. In addition, we are training instrument repair technicians for pianos and stringed instruments with the partnership with Luthiers sans Frontières-UK.
We partner with Eliot Trans to transport all donated items to Kosovo.
Without Eliot Trans, and their entire team, both in Switzerland and in Kosovo, this project couldn’t exist. Their dedication and generosity in transporting all the materials, from grand pianos, upright pianos, keyboards, violins, cellos, over 1000Kg of music scores, drum kits, trombones, school percussions and much more, free of charge cannot be underestimated.
We fundraise through concerts and other musical events to fund repairs and transport
Julie gives concerts, often with her piano duo partner Janet. Patrons donate to the project, and those funds are used to organize transport and repair of donated instruments, plus training for instrument repair technicians.
People kindly donate instruments
Pictured above: donated stringed instruments we picked up in Switzerland!
We will happily accept donated instruments, from percussion to ocarinas, recorders, keyboards, winds, brass and strings. We are also looking for music stands. If you know of any instruments that need a new home in which to make music again, please contact us!
Team
WHO WE ARE
Julie Tompkins-Wagner
CONCERT PIANIST, TEACHER AND MUSIC ADMINISTRATOR, JULIE NOW RUNS THE KOSOVO MUSICAL PROJECT AS A PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVE
Julie Tompkins accompanied Bryce to Kosovo in 2013, and recognized first-hand how desperate a need there was for instruments, music, and other music education supplies in the country. Unable to leave new-found friends, colleagues and students without further assistance, Julie took over managing and developing the Kosovo Musical Project, expanding the program to include other towns. Coordinating this project involves: canvassing for instruments and support on social media and within the local community; contacting and personally visiting potential donors; collecting instrument donations; repairing instruments, packaging instruments, completing custom lists and declarations; depositing equipment for shipment to the transport location; scheduling piano collections and removals; researching spare parts for repairs; fund raising through private concerts; regular communication with the team members in Kosovo to ensure that shipments are received and delivered to their final location and ongoing discussions for future workshops and training. On location in Kosovo; meeting with directors of Music and Educational Institutions to better understand their goals and to promote access for better facilities, equipment and professional development for teachers. Leading classroom music workshops and giving piano masterclasses.
Janet Bouwmeester
PIANIST, CLARINETIST AND MUSIC EDUCATOR
Janet Bouwmeester, a trained concert artist, was a specialist classroom music teacher for most of her career. She is an International Baccalaureate workshop leader and curriculum developer, 4-hands piano partner with Julie, and specializes in giving interactive music workshops for teachers to include current pedagogical methodology for teachers.
Astrit Mustafa
PROFESSOR OF CLARINET AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PRISTINA
Astrit is a concert artist, professor of clarinet at the University of Prishtina, former member of the Kosovo Philharmonic, and a highly respected person and artist within the community. For us, he is Mr. Music in Kosovo. He is always available to assist and advise through his extensive experience in all levels of life and seems to know everyone and everything in music and beyond. We are so grateful for his support and connections which he shares so freely with us.
Rinor Aliu
CONCERT PIANIST AND PROFESSOR OF PIANO AT THE CESK ZADEJA HIGH SCHOOL FOR MUSIC AND ART IN FERIZAJ
With his ability to grasp the overall situation, reliability and attention to detail, Rinor is our “go-to” manager in Ferizaj for whatever we need to make things work. From organizing concerts and master classes, to instrument distribution, liaising with other teachers and directors, following up with shipments and paperwork, hosting visiting professionals, and preparing students for events, Rinor ensures that everything runs smoothly for workshops and training.
Zana Aliu Salihu
OUR CLASSROOM MUSIC TEACHER LIAISON IN FERIZAJ
Zana Aliu Salihu, music teacher, is our classroom music teacher liaison in Ferizaj and she organizes the logistics of teacher training workshops and the distribution of instruments. She has shared her knowledge of the public school system and her colleagues with us, which has given us a much clearer understanding of the role of music educators within the public educational system in Kosovo.
Melos Bytiqi
OUR PIANO TECHNICIAN IN TRAINING. MELOS IS NOW REPAIRING PIANOS AS PART OF THE PROGRAM.
After 6 weeks in Poland, with Waldemar Wietrzyk at El Jefe Grande piano restoration and further of hands-on training in Kosovo with visiting piano technicians, Adrian Ciesielski and Frances Overbury, Melos is beginning to repair the pianos we have sent with the KMP in and around Ferizaj. His adaptability and willingness to take on so many diverse tasks, from checking out brass instruments, (he plays the trumpet) to repairing digital pianos along with his acoustic piano training and knowledge of moving pianos safely, is highly valued by everyone. We are looking to find him further training in this field. He works as a recording technician and runs a music studio in Ferizaj.
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Violeta Krasniqi
VIOLETA KRASNIQI, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PRENK JAKOVA HIGH SCHOOL FOR MUSIC IN PRISTINA AND CURRENTLY TEACHER OF SOLFEGE THERE AND AUTHOR OF KOSOVO NATIONAL MUSIC CURRICULUM BOOKS.
Violeta is the former director of Prenk Jakova High School for Music in Prishtina and currently (and formerly) a teacher of solfege there and author of Kosovo national music curriculum books. Violeta welcomed Bryce and Julie at the airport for their first visit to Kosovo and has been an integral part of the team since then. Her organizational skills are legendary and she has managed to accomplish amazing things for her students and teachers amidst daunting obstacles. Her knowledge and ability to get things done have contributed to the overall success of the Kosovo Musical Program and inspired us all over these past ten years.
Besiana Veselaj
BESIANA IS A PIANIST AND CLASSROOM MUSIC TEACHER IN SUHAREKË.
Represents the classroom music teachers in the Prizren district where the first teacher training workshops will take place in September 2023
The Luthier Team
FTESË AND DORË RAMADINI, LEONA SALIHU AND GENTIAN ALIU
The luthier team: Ftëse Ramadini, violinist and teacher, Dorë Ramadini, violinist and teacher, Leona Salihu, violist and teacher, all at Cesk Zadeja School for Art and Music, Ferizaj, and Gentian Aliu, violinist, member of the Kosovo Philharmonic. These four team members have just completed their first two weeks of training as luthiers (stringed instrument repair technicians) with Robert Cain and Sarah Beaton from Luthiers san Frontières-UK, and are repairing instruments and bows for use in the two music schools Cesk Zadeja, Ferizaj and Prenk Jakova, Pristina. They are setting up their business workshops as luthiers in Ferizaj and Pristina. Until now, instrumentalists had to go outside of Kosovo for instrument repair.
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Bryce Wagner
FOUNDED THE KOSOVO MUSICAL PROJECT AS PART OF HIS EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT
Bryce, founder of the project, started everything with his Eagle Scout project in 2013, choosing to set up a project to help the schools in Kosovo with educational materials and musical instruments. In November 2013, at age 14, he went to Kosovo to distribute the instruments and to personally visit the schools he was helping. He met the Directors of the American School of Kosova and the Prenk Jakova High School for music in Pristina as well as teachers and students. When Bryce had to turn his attention to his higher education, his legacy became the sustainability of this Eagle Scout project that has turned into the Kosovo Musical Project of today.
Our Partners
Eliot Trans
OUR LONG-TERM PARTNERS, WHO HAVE TRANSPORTED OVER 1000KGS OF DONATED INSTRUMENTS TO KOSOVO
Luthiers sans Frontiers UK
ROBERT CAIN AND SARAH BEATON FROM LUTHIERS SANS FRONTIERS UK SPENT TWO WEEKS ON A TRAINING MISSION IN KOSOVO, TEACHING 4 TRAINEES THE ART OF STRINGED INSTRUMENT REPAIR.
Wilhelm Geigenbau
LUTHIER IN SUHR, SWITZERLAND DONATED AN INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS, BOWS, CASES, WOOD AND PARTS FOR REPAIRING STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.
Mad Robin Music and Dance
DONATED INSTRUMENTS, TEACHING MATERIALS AND CUSTOMIZED REPLACEMENT BARS FOR OUT OF PRODUCTION GLOCKENSPIELS THAT WERE DONATED.
Frances Overbury Piano Tuning
SPENT A WEEK IN KOSOVO TUNING AND REPAIRING PIANOS AND TRAINING FUTURE PIANO TECHNICIANS
El Jefe Grande Piano Restoration
PROVIDED PIANO TECHNICIAN TRAINING IN POLAND FOR OUR KOSOVAR TRAINEE
The City of Ferizaj
THE CITY OF FERIZAJ HAS SUPPORTED ALL THE TRAINING FOR THEIR TEACHERS AND FUTURE INSTRUMENT REPAIR TECHNICIANS, AS WELL AS MASTER CLASSES AND CONCERTS BY PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD FOR THE THOSE GIVING THE TRAINING.
Prenk Jakova High School for Music, Pristina
THE FIRST MUSIC SCHOOL WITH WHICH WE WORKED TO BRING INSTRUMENTS AND MATERIALS TO THE STUDENTS. WE HAVE GIVEN MASTER CLASSESFOR THE STUDENTS AND SUPPORTED INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES AS WE WORK WITH THE CURRENT DIRECTOR JETA DIDA BUJARI.
The High School for Music and Art in Ferizaj
THE SCHOOL HAS RECEIVED MANY DONATIONS OF INSTRUMENTS AND MUSICAL SUPPLIES, AND THE DIRECTOR HAS TAKEN THE INITIATIVE TO SET UP A MUSIC LIBRARY WITH OUR DONATED MUSIC AND SUPPORTED US IN ALLOWING US TO GIVE MASTER CLASSES AND INSTRUMENT REPAIR TRAININGS AT THE SCHOOL.
The International School of Geneva (Ecolint)
THE CAMPUSES OF NATION AND LA CHÂTAIGERNAIE HAVE DONATED OCARINAS, OTHER INSTRUMENTS AND MUSIC TO SUPPORT OUR CLASSROOM MUSIC TEACHER TRAINING.
International School of Lausanne, Switzerland
THROUGH THEIR CLASSROOM MUSIC TEACHER, NANCY CHARDON, THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LAUSANNE HAS DONATED CLARINÉOS AND OTHER CLASSROOM TEACHING INSTRUMENTS AND MATERIALS TO SUPPOR OUR TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS.
The Institut Le Rosey, Rolle, Switzerland
THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT HAS DONATED BRASS, WOODWIND AND KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS.
Adrian Ciesielski
TUNED AND REPAIRED MANY PIANOS BOTH IN SWITZERLAND AND ON SITE IN KOSOVO WHILE WORKING WITH OUR PIANO TECHNICIAN TRAINEE.