Rediscovering Joy at Superar Hungary

 
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Rediscovering Joy at Superar Hungary

Judit Morvay, Founder/Director, Superar Hungary

12-11-2024

“With music, one’s entire life is brightened. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and valuable in life.”
~Zoltán Kodály

When I was growing up in Budapest, Hungary, I had the privilege of learning to play music through the pedagogy of Zoltan Kodály, the famous 20th century Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music educator, linguist, and philosopher. 

Thanks to Kodály, our small country has a well-built school music system, which allows students to learn music theory from a young age and to experience active music-making.

Kodály, who was a revolutionary thinker and pedagogue, might also have wanted me to experience empowerment, encouragement, and—most of all—joy during my school music lessons. But that kind of learning was undermined by other, more traditional teaching methods that focused instead on failure. This learning environment, which gives rise to anxiety and fear of making mistakes, is still widespread in the Hungarian school music system.

Superar students lead a warm up. Photo: Gergely Bándi.

Therefore, when I founded Superar Hungary in 2018, I was determined to prioritize joy, inclusion, and motivation. I was fortunate to be able to draw on my experience of two powerful models, in this regard.

My first model was the “You Belong!” Foundation, founded by Kriszta Bódis in northeastern Hungary and centered around her belief that the creative process can help children develop both a sense of autonomy and a feeling of belonging. In 2011, I worked as a volunteer at a “You Belong” program in a segregated Roma community in the city of Ózd. 

Students’ families were initially mistrustful, and the children struggled with concentration, self-regulation, self-esteem, and self-expression. Music was our key to overcoming these challenges. In the beginning, we introduced ourselves by playing and singing with children on the streets of the neighborhood, singing songs of their community in their own language. Their response was powerful: they invited us to their houses and “performed” with us for their parents, which helped to build trust with families. 

When the children began attending the program, singing was always the opening and closing ritual and our main tool for refreshing concentration. Creating our own songs helped us nurture a sense of community; singing and dancing were vital when we needed to blow off steam. Our main goal was to involve as many children as possible, so we concentrated on joy, and we incorporated our students’ ideas into our songs. So for them, it didn’t feel like school: no exams were conducted; no one felt judged; everyone sang enthusiastically and freely, regardless of their musical skills. Observing this, I understood Kodály’s simple but profound motto—“Let music belong to everyone!”

Boys practice singing in head voice. Photo: Superar.

My second model has been the Superar program in Vienna, Austria, which works in cooperation with schools, community centres, and cultural organizations to offer high-quality choir and instrumental programs to children free of charge, irrespective of their cultural, religious, linguistic, and financial backgrounds, so that they can benefit from the multilayered positive impact of music. From 2016 to 2018, I worked as a choir conductor at Superar Austria, mentored by conductor and music pedagogue Andy Icochea Icochea. I was impressed by his way of engaging growth mindset, both in teachers and children, to ensure that general cognitive and social skills developed along with musical progress. My focus shifted from perfectionism to possibilities. Little boys gained courage to use their head voices, which led to better intonation. Refugee children who didn’t speak German enjoyed the nonverbal creative possibilities that music offered; some of them began to lead warm-up exercises or conduct songs. Second graders started to write their own songs. Our motto became, “You don’t have to know, but you have to try.” 

Thanks to these two formative models, I came to understand how inclusion, motivation, and joy can raise the effectiveness of music teaching and learning (and all kinds of learning!). This was something I wanted to bring back home. In 2018, I launched Superar Hungary with the goal of combining high-quality music teaching with the social goals of empowerment, joy, and total inclusion.

Guitar ensemble performs in House of Music Hungary. Photo: Ivándi-Szabó Balázs.

We started with 60 children in two Budapest elementary schools. Over the past six years, 550 children have sung in our choirs, 50 children have played classical guitar and ukulele in our ensembles, and ten music teachers have been learning to raise the impact of their teaching through empowerment and joy. Superar Hungary students perform at the Sziget Festival every year for an audience of 30,000 people.

And the parents of our students have become more involved. Some sing Superar songs at home with their children. Others share their own musical heritage with us; from time to time, we’re proud to be accompanied by one student’s family, a group of Roma musicians. Most important, we have managed to take a return step towards Kodály’s vision, helping children to perceive music as a “treasure in life” and a source of empowerment and success. This is what our school music system has lost in recent decades, and we are full of commitment and determination to bring it back.

Children's Choirs, Community Building, Creative Expression, Cultural Heritage, December 2024, Educational Innovation, Empowerment through Music, Growth Mindset in Music, Hungary, Inclusion in Music, Instrumental Ensembles, Joy in Learning, Kodály Pedagogy, Music and Belonging, music and social change, Music as a Life Treasure, Music Education, Music Therapy, Musical Inclusion for Refugees, Parental Involvement in Music, Roma Communities, Superar Hungary, Sziget Festival, Teacher Empowerment, Vienna Music Programs, Zoltán Kodály

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