Avenue Murphy, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius

Programs

• Western music. Small group classes in classical or jazz performance, theory, aural training, music appreciation. • Hobby classes. Programs for particular interest groups - choirs, band instruments, percussion, Creole music, Indian music. • Classes for very young children, with some emphasis on an adapted version of Orff Schulwerk. • Music Technology, including piano tuning.

The Conservatoire de Musique 'François Mitterand', founded in 1987, is operated under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources. It offers free part-time music programs after school hours and on Saturday mornings to over 1,100 students ranging from pre-school to adult. It organises and conducts its own music examinations in collaboration with the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate and the Conservatoire National de Région in Réunion. Additionally it prepares students for such examinations as those conducted by the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in the UK. On campus is an air-conditioned auditorium, three grand pianos and a large collection of instruments available for hire to students as well as electronic instruments, synthesisers and video equipment. The library has an important collection of rare music manuscripts of works by Mauritian composers as well as a collection of solo instrumental scores. There are branches of the Conservatoire in Grand Bay and Curepipe. The Conservatoire hosts an annual music festival each November. In 2006 the Conservatoire became an approved Cambridge Centre for music and has commenced to prepare students who wish to take music as a subject for the Cambridge examinations. The Conservatoire provides music training for secondary school teachers who follow the Diploma course at the Mauritius Institute of Education, and prepares music textbooks and cassettes for primary school teachers.

March 2022