The Conservatory of Music of Palencia opened its new school year with 385 students and 52 teachers, El Norte de Castilla reported. Director Enrique Abello said the start has been very good, with high demand and 80 admission applications received.
The most requested instruments remain piano, violin, flute and guitar, according to the report. Smaller instruments tend to fill before larger ones such as cello or viola, Abello said. Extraordinary enrollment for remaining vacancies concluded this week, and a spot was offered to every applicant, though not all formalized enrollment because some were assigned a specialty they did not prefer.
The conservatory is participating in a new Educational Experience Plan directed by the regional government, El Norte de Castilla reported. The first goal is to coordinate schedules with a Palencia high school so students with equivalencies can attend the conservatory one morning per week and gain a free afternoon. A second initiative involves building a local mobile app to group student needs such as sheet music storage, metronome apps and tuners. A third pillar structures the Folkloreando activity, in which conservatory students visit schools to share traditional music, folklore and regional attire with schoolchildren.
This year marks the conservatory’s 40th anniversary, with activities tied to the milestone and cultural days planned for March featuring former teachers and students.
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