IN KOSOVO SINCE 1999

CURRENT PROJECTS

GJAKOVË CITY CLASSES

Since 1999, KCMI has offered weekly music classes in Gjakovë-area elementary and junior high schools. Classes are held weekly during the school year and twice weekly during the summer. Our students regularly perform in area festivals and concerts and are becoming very fine singers and musicians. A group of these students were invited to the USA in July 2004 and August 2006, and performed concerts throughout the Midwest. Many program graduates are now Youth Teacher Volunteers.
Classes offered include the following:

• Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Pennywhistle
• Beginning and Advanced Harmonica
• Beginning and Advanced Drum
• Beginning and Advanced Singing

TRANSIT SHELTER CAMP MUSIC CLASSES

Slovene Village is a “transit shelter camp,” housing children who have lost homes and parents during the war. Our work at Slovene Village best represents our basic mission: to offer war-impacted children opportunities for play, creativity, learning, self-expression, and relief from hardship. KCMI has established weekly classes in the following:

• Beginning and Advanced Singing
• Musical Play for young children

YOUTH-TEACHER VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

KCMI is based on the premise that a sustainable, locally-run program is in the best interests of war-affected communities. Training local volunteers also allows us to teach more children in more locations than ever before. Through Our Youth-Teacher Volunteer Program, senior volunteers lead bi-weekly training sessions in:

• Reading, writing, and counting music
• Singing
• Playing pennywhistle, harmonica, ukulele, guitar, drum, and piano
• Music pedagogy for children, including reading, counting, singing, and playing music
• Lesson planning and reporting
• Conducting
• Time management and employment skills
• Tolerance and peace training
• Leadership
• Reading, writing, and speaking English

VILLAGE AND MINORITY OUTREACH

KCMI is providing villages and Minority Communities outside of Gjakovё with music classes and instruments including pennywhistles, harmonicas, and music all for participating children in locations that have few opportunities for growth and development of children. At the outreach sites of Kolonije and Prizren, we serve ethnic minority Roma communities. Classes include:

• Singing
• Reading music
• Beginning and Advanced Harmonica
• Beginning and Advanced pennywhistle

SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER TRAINING

KCMI sponsors weekly pedagogical training for Gjakovë-area music teachers. At the completion of the first half of the training course, we provide teachers with pennywhistles, harmonicas, and music to take back to their classrooms; during the second half, we observe and evaluate teachers in the classroom. Training is offered on three certificate levels, and each level takes nine months to complete. Upon completion of their third year in training, teachers receive electric keyboards for use in their classrooms.
Through the teaching training project, our programs and instruments have reached children in 10 Gjakovë-area schools, including eight rural village schools. We provide training in the following areas:

• Reading, writing, and counting music
• Basic and intermediate music pedagogy, including reading, counting, and singing for children
• Conducting
• Harmonica, pennywhistle, and piano
• Harmonica and pennywhistle pedagogy
• Piano lessons and free portable electric keyboards for teachers

KOSOVO CAMPS, PROGRAMS, AND PROJECTS FROM THE PAST

We have been involved in many projects over the years which were not ongoing:

• Summer Camp For Children With Missing And Dead Parents In 2000
• Tolerance Summer Camp In 2001
• Program For The Disabled In 2001
• Tolerance Songwriting Course In 2002
• Programs In Various Shelter Camps, Now Closed, from 1999-2003