Echoes of the summer course – Lyon 2022

Echoes of the summer course – Lyon 2022

This workshop took place as planned in Lyon – France from 16 to 18 July 2022 in the choir school of St-Jean cathedral.
It gathered 24 participants from France (15), Spain (5), Switzerland (2), Germany (1) and Colombia (1)! Among them, 5 came to discover the Willems® Pedagogy, 5 Graduates were getting back in touch with the FIW to deepen their practice and share their experience, and 14 students in the process of training in France and Spain followed this course, an integral part of their training.

The programme of this course enabled each trainee to tackle the three themes developed, with each group being divided into three groups and rotating each day with the three teachers involved.

The Spanish participants were able to benefit from the simultaneous translation provided by Pilar Quiroga, a Willems® educationalist from Salamanca.

Juliette Beauviche, professor of contemporary dance at the CNSMD in Lyon, led the workshop “From body perception to movement”. During the 3 sessions of 1h15, the trainees experienced a progression leading them from their body perception lying down, to the movement in the space passing from the collective to the individual.

“At the invitation of Nicole Corti, I joined the teaching team of the FIW 2022 summer workshop to propose a work on the body and dance.

I chose an entry into the dance movement based on the fact of living experiences that bring and nourish the movement rather than transmitting a training and dance phrases that the trainees would have reproduced by mimicry.

The trainees approached each experiment with a great openness of mind. I was able to read in each one the incorporation of the proposals they went through, revealing a greater presence to themselves and a refined listening of their body. I remain touched by their availability and their ability to enter with authenticity into all the explorations in order to live them fully.
A magnificent moment of exchange and sensitive sharing.”

Juliette Beauviche

Lucia Perez-Pelaez, professor of musical training at the Argenteuil conservatory, Willems® tutor, led the workshop “Willems® solfeggio in institutional settings”.
The trainees were able to tackle this problem by practising, in particular, reading from orchestral scores and improvising on cadences.

Christophe Lazerges, professor of music education, former director of the Willems® Ryméa School, and Willems® Didactician, led the workshop “From pre-instrumental to playing an instrument”. This subject is not often addressed during training, due to lack of time. It was an opportunity for the trainees to understand concretely the stakes of this specific preparation of any instrumental practice.

One evening was dedicated to the creation of a piece composed for the occasion.
Using all the instruments in the “Orff instrumentarium”, the trainees took up the challenge of playing this piece after an hour of rehearsal. It was a joyful discovery session for everyone, as no one had used these instruments before!


During the first evening, Christophe Voidey, pianist, great improviser, director of the music school of Irigny and Willems® Didactician, presented the basics of harmony.
Starting with a presentation of the different roles played by chords according to the degree of the scale in which they are found, he highlighted all the possible relationships between chords, shedding light on the cadential functions in particular.


The final evening was led by Nicole Corti, choral and orchestral conductor, professor of choral conducting and artistic director of Spirito. Also a Willems® tutor, she highlighted the artistic dimension of songs in music education.


Photos : Maryline FOURRÉ – Video editing : Christophe LAZERGES