When we think of Démos, the flagship of the Philharmonie de Paris educational project, we think of orchestras and classical music. However, the educational and social program, launched in 2010, is increasingly focusing on creation and developing an ambitious commissioning policy. In the spotlight: Gilles Delebarre, Head of Education.

What role do new works and contemporary repertoires play in the Démos program?
Demos is first and foremost a musical education and cultural democratization project: for three years, primary and secondary school pupils learn music and play in orchestras. The choice of classical music is a political one: following the example of El Sistema* in Venezuela, we wanted to show that this music, considered to be the preserve of the dominant classes, can be appropriated by other, more modest audiences. It's true that our main subject is classical music. However, we need to offer more to children, otherwise we're implying that there's no salvation outside classical music. Classical music accounts for 70% of our repertoire, with the remainder devoted to music from oral traditions, contemporary creation and new languages.

And yet there are Demos programs in the regions, where creative music is given particular prominence...
Démos operates according to a pedagogy that has been the subject of a great deal of research, with musicians trained by us, but also knows how to adapt to different territories and local players. For example, in Thouars, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the proportion of creative music is higher than elsewhere. In 2018, the Philharmonie launched a pilot project there: the first contemporary Démos. An experiment supported by the Ars Nova ensemble and its director, Jean-Michaël Lavoie. The contemporary repertoire, which students in traditional Démos orchestras normally tackle at the end of their third year, is this time tackled at the start of their musical apprenticeship. The hundred or so children taking part in this project learn their first musical notions and build their own instruments from recycled materials. Starting with contemporary music offers a different way of learning, based in particular on improvisation.

How is Démos' commissioning policy evolving?
We're placing more and more commissions for the 45 orchestras we have in the region. These children need to have access to the reality of music: they'll never come across Bach, but they can come across today's composers! Our composers have quite precise specifications, so that they understand where the children are in their acquisition. They also have to take into account the technical constraints of each Demos orchestra. However, just because a piece has to be played by children doesn't mean it has to be oversimplified. So we work hand in hand with composers. Démos is a philosophy, an ecosystem. We organize seminars for our conductors, enabling them to meet and exchange ideas. We'd like to do the same for composers.

Interview by Suzanne Gervais