Guildhall school of Music and Dance (GSMD)

In GSMD, we are connected to the Innovative Performance and Communication Skills Department as main partners in International Collaborative work. We are a strong partner in their Arts and Community Development Programme involving students and tutors working in partnership with schools, arts organisations and their wider community.

The work of the programme provides opportunities for participants to develop individual creativity, to extend forms of performance practice both within and outside the Guildhall School and to foster a shared understanding between people from different cultural backgrounds. ECCO is part of the modular programme of Continuing Professional Development, established by the Guildhall School in 1998 to enable musicians to develop further the fundamental skills for sustained personal, artistic and professional development in the areas of creativity, flexible performance and communication. Partnerships are being established worldwide with the individuals and organisations, including New Zealand, Australia, Tanzania, Finland, Iceland and Ireland.

The latest developments are our role in the partnership between the Guildhall school and the Royal College of Art. This new collaborative project entitled 'MAP/making' has been designed to bring together Music and Visual Arts students in order to meet with confidence the opportunities offered by the growing market of cross-arts multi-media presentation. GSMD are sending ten students of arts every year to the Gambia to our module of West African Culture. They are sending tutors to facilitate workshops in musical leadership and Innovation several times pr year.

The Norwegian College of Dance (DNBH)

The link with DNBH is fulfilling the need of developing the dance, movement and physical education within ECCO. DNBH is utilising ECCO as a platform for their students in arts management, education and health to have their yearly practicum in The Gambia. DNBH represents the pool of knowledge in dance and movement and the partnership is imperative to enable us to recruit, develop and promote a strong foundation on the side of dance and movement in West Africa.

Malmö Academy of Music

The Academy of Music in Malmö has, since 1990, worked with models within music teacher education that pro-mote the interculturally competent pedagogue. The cultural meeting has been used as a method in the so-called “Gambia course”, which has created a platform for further development of curricula. It also gave the background to a study on the meeting between different approaches to learning, “The Oral University”. In MAM we are connected to the Music Education Department and working closely with the research Department specialized in West African Oral traditions. Through 17 years of partnership ECCO is a strong part of MAM’s structure and ECCO is invited to take part in an exchange with their link to the University of Hanoi (through SIDA)

Other partners

• Örebro College of Music
• Ingesund College of Music
• Piteå College of Music
• Royal College of Music, Stockholm
• Oslo University College
• Sund Folk College
• Royal College of Art, London