The Future of Music Schools:European Perspectives

Music education in Europe reflects the colorful diversity and rich tradition of the cultural identities of our continent. Within the music education landscape music schools are institutions specially focused on the practices of music-making. The First European Music School Symposium, which took place at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in October 2017, brought together more than 150 researchers and practitioners from twenty-five European countries. The two cooperating partners, European Music School Union and Austrian Conference of Music School Associations, ensured a lively exchange between research and practitioners. This post-symposium publication presents contributions from twenty-nine researchers from thirteen European countries and paints a multicolored picture of music schools in Europe

The role of Greek traditional music in Music Schools and their contribution in shaping students' cultural identity: the case of the Music School of Rhodes: folklore and Pedagogical approach

The institution of Music Schools (Gymnasiums and Lyceums), in the context of free public education, initiated in Greece in 1988. Τhe Music Gymnasiums and Lyceums, in parallel with the core curriculum of the general schools, aim to provide knowledge and develop students' skills in the fields of European and Greek traditional music. In these schools it is highlighted the importance of music in the education, spiritual and mental development of young people, together with the main educational program.The research focus of the present study is on the students who chose Greek traditional music as a major focus during their education. Through questionnaires and interviews from the students of all the Music Schools in Greece, an attempt is made to investigate: 1) the role and contribution of Music Schools in the study and the feedback of traditional musical heritage in modern times, 2) the personal opinions of the students, the teachers and the graduates of music schools on choosing the traditional music (instruments) and on the role they attribute to the music school for themselves and the society in general, 3) the extent that the Music School met the expectations of students and their parents and what was the degree of change in these expectations after graduation from the Music School, 4) the change of the career opportunities, by the greater ‘production’ and ‘supply’ of traditional musicians and the way old musicians view and treat the new ones, both in the local communities and in the country in general. Furthermore, through the example of the Music School of Rhodes, an attempt was made to investigate the influence of the music school on the cultural changes and the formation of students' cultural identity and through studying the example of Music Ensembles, the contribution of music schools to the feedback of the local musical heritage.O θεσμός των Μουσικών Σχολείων (Γυμνασίων και Λυκείων), στο πλαίσιο της δωρεάν δημόσιας παιδείας, ξεκίνησε στην Ελλάδα, το 1988. Το Μουσικό Γυμνάσιο και Λύκειο, παράλληλα με την εφαρμογή του προγράμματος του γενικού σχολείου, στοχεύει στην παροχή γνώσεων και την ανάπτυξη δεξιοτήτων των μαθητών στους τομείς της ευρωπαϊκής και της ελληνικής παραδοσιακής μουσικής. Μέσα σε αυτά τα σχολεία αναδεικνύεται η σημαντικότητα της μουσικής, αφού αυτή συνδέεται τόσο με το όλο ζήτημα της αγωγής όσο και με την πνευματική και την ψυχική καλλιέργεια των νέων, παράλληλα με την εφαρμογή του προγράμματος του Γυμνασίου – Γενικού Λυκείου. Το ερευνητικό ενδιαφέρον της παρούσας μελέτης επικεντρώνεται σε εκείνους τους μαθητές που επιλέγουν την ελληνική παραδοσιακή μουσική στο πλαίσιο της εκπαίδευσής τους στο ΜΣ. Μέσω ερωτηματολογίων και συνεντεύξεων που έγιναν στους μαθητές των Μουσικών Γυμνασίων και Λυκείων όλης της χώρας επιχειρείται να διερευνηθεί: 1) ο ρόλος και η συμβολή των ΜΣ στην μελέτη και ανατροφοδότηση της λαϊκής μουσικής κληρονομιάς στην σύγχρονη εποχή, 2) οι απόψεις των μαθητών, των εκπαιδευτικών και των αποφοίτων των ΜΣ σχετικά με την επιλογή της παραδοσιακής μουσικής (οργάνων) και με το ρόλο που αυτοί αποδίδουν στο ΜΣ για τους ίδιους αλλά και την κοινωνία εν γένει, 3) o βαθμός που το ΜΣ ανταποκρίθηκε στις προσδοκίες των μαθητών και των γονιών τους και ποιος είναι ο βαθμός μεταβολής των προσδοκιών αυτών μετά την αποφοίτηση από το ΜΣ, 4) η μεταβολή της εικόνας στην αγορά εργασίας, τόσο στις τοπικές κοινωνίες όσο και στον ευρύτερο ελλαδικό χώρο από τη μεγαλύτερη ‘παραγωγή’ και ‘προσφορά’ παραδοσιακών μουσικών και η αντιμετώπιση των νέων αυτών μουσικών από τους παλιούς. Επιπρόσθετα, μέσα από το παράδειγμα του ΜΣ Ρόδου έγινε προσπάθεια να διερευνηθεί η επίδραση του ΜΣ στις συντελούμενες πολιτισμικές αλλαγές και στη διαμόρφωση της πολιτισμικής ταυτότητας των μαθητών και μελετώντας το παράδειγμα των Μουσικών Συνόλων να διερευνηθεί η συμβολή των ΜΣ στην ανατροφοδότηση της τοπικής μουσικής κληρονομιάς

The BDS Test as a Test for the Adequacy of a GARCH(1,1) Specification: A Monte Carlo Study

In this study we examine the widely used Brock, Dechert, and Scheinkman (BDS) test when applied to the logarithm of the squared standardized residuals of an estimated GARCH(1,1) model as a test for the adequacy of this specification. We review the conditions derived by De Lima (1996; Econometric Reviews 15, 237--259) for the nuisance-parameter-free property to hold and address the issue of their necessity, using the flexible framework offered by the GARCH(1,1) model in terms of moment, memory, and time heterogeneity properties. By means of Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the BDS test statistic still approximates the standard null distribution even for mildly explosive processes that violate the majority of the conditions. Thus the test performs reasonably well, its empirical size being rather close to the nominal one. As a by-product of this study, we also shed light on the related issue of the consistency of the QML estimators of the conditional variance parameters under various parameter configurations and alternative distributional assumptions on the innovation process. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

Functional, Flavor and Visual Traits of Hydroponically Produced Tomato Fruit in Relation to Substrate, Plant Training System and Harvesting Time

Currently, a great portion of tomatoes is produced by soilless cultivation systems and the substrate selection among the various materials is one of the most important factors affecting yield and quality traits. On the other hand, grafting has been successfully used in soilless systems to ensure long-term cultivation. However, due to the high cost of grafted seedlings, plant training systems are sought. Given the fact that most literature refers to studies intended to mainly reveal production differences among treatments and the quality aspect was secondary, the present study was focused on the evaluation of tomato fruit functionality, flavor and visual traits. Tomato plants cv ‘Beef Bang F1’ were cultivated in a glasshouse hydroponic culture in four substrates: rockwool slabs, perlite in sacks, pumice in sacks and pumice in 9 L pots. The type of cultivated plants used were self-rooted or grafted onto ‘Defensor’ trained in single and double stems. Tomato fruit were harvested three times during the season (6 June, 31 July, 6 November). The fruit quality was measured based on visual (average fruit mass, and Minolta color values), flavor (dry mass, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, pH, flesh firmness) as well as functional traits (total phenolic content, ascorbic acid, lycopene, β-carotene, total carotenoid content and antioxidant capacity). Harvest time was the most important factor followed in many of these cases by the substrate (flavor and functional traits), as well as in certain cases by the plant grafting/training (flavor traits and antioxidants) or by both in some flavor traits and antioxidants. Correlation of color values with lycopene, though significant, was weak. Each individual harvest time revealed the rise in different parameters. Pumice, whether used in pot or in sack, enhanced the visual and flavor attributes the most, self-rooted plants and mid-summer harvest resulted in the highest tomato fruit quality

Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans

We sequenced the genomes of a ~7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ~8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes ¹⁻⁴ with 2,345 contemporary humans to show thatmost present-day Europeans derive from atleast three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians³, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had 44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages

Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present day Europeans

We sequenced genomes from a $\sim$7,000 year old early farmer from Stuttgart in Germany, an $\sim$8,000 year old hunter-gatherer from Luxembourg, and seven $\sim$8,000 year old hunter-gatherers from southern Sweden. We analyzed these data together with other ancient genomes and 2,345 contemporary humans to show that the great majority of present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: West European Hunter-Gatherers (WHG), who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), who were most closely related to Upper Paleolithic Siberians and contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and Early European Farmers (EEF), who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harbored WHG-related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that EEF had $\sim$44% ancestry from a "Basal Eurasian" lineage that split prior to the diversification of all other non-African lineages