Metz

Metz is a lively metropolis where you can find the arts everywhere thanks to its very active cultural scene. Centre Pompidou-Metz, Cité musicale-Metz, Opéra-Théâtre, cultural seasons punctuated by highlights (many festivals held throughout the year including Constellations during the summer). It is also a city filled with creative industries in particular to be found within the Bliiida Third place and co-working centre and its technology park.

Being the birthplace of Gregorian Chant (9th century), music continues to play major role in fashioning Metz’ identity. The music scene never ceases to shine on the national and international level through the International meeting of contemporary music, its composers (Ambroise Thomas, Gabriel Pierné, Claude Lefèbvre, etc.), its artists and ensembles (Le Concert Lorrain, Cascadeur, Chapelier fou, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, etc.) and its music venues: theOpéra-Théâtre (the oldest still active in France) as well as the Arsenal, the Trinitaires and BAM which joined with the Orchestre National de Metz in 2016 to form the Cité musicale-Metz, home to all types of music for all audiences. Metz is also a pioneering city in terms of music education with the establishment of one of the first Conservatories in France (1835) which became the Conservatoire Gabriel Pierné, not counting the strong influx of wind bands and choral societies in the 19th century, a tradition which has lasted right up to the present time.

Metz is committed to a long-term policy for making culture and especially, music, a means of creating a long-lasting community spirit. To meet the challenge of military reconversion, the city has created major cultural infrastructures, boosting its region and encouraging creativity in all its forms. as evidenced by the reconversion of the sites recalling its rich past as a garrison town and a European crossroads with exceptional cultural assets: the Arsenal, a renowned concert hall, the Centre Pompidou-Metz, the first cultural satellite of the prestigious Paris museum, BAM, a concert hall for popular music as well as the reconversion of former warehouses into the Bliiida Third place where arts blend together with creative and digital industries, the opening of Agora, a social and cultural centre or the reconversion of the former military cold-stores into a place where artistic creation and community actions can flourish. Creativity is also found in the field of research and innovation: the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus, the Sound Research workshop of the Ecole Supérieure d’Art de Lorraine.

As a UNESCO City of Music, Metz intends to strengthen its local ecosystem and use it to promote  music education and to reduce social inequalities through its action plan entitled “Music as a lever for education, transmission, training and inclusion”. It plans:

• to develop community music education projects for children and young people with social problems
• to establish a Music City for children with permanent areas dedicated to workshops and music and sound discovery activities.
• to provide more support to artistic creation and for bringing young artists up to a professional level.
• to share experiences and innovative projects in music education with other cities of the network.
• to organise an International Conference on the topic of music education with the participation of other creative cities.
• To share with other creative cities interdisciplinary projects and creation residencies.