Toulouse. Topophone rewarded for access to music
The Toulouse association Topophone, which has been working for popular education since 2012, has just received a sum of €15,000 from the Transdev foundation (French multinational transport group), for its project “Parcours jeunes musician“, a device aimed at facilitating access to amateur musical practice in priority areas of Toulouse. This “reward” which will make it possible to finance the purchase of musical instruments, equipment or teaching aids, represents for Sébastien Benazet director of Topophone, “Real recognition of the work carried out by the employees and volunteers of the association. An association that fights against inequalities by democratizing access to culture, and by supporting young people aged 7 to 18 from priority neighborhoods of city policy, in the acquisition of musical knowledge. In 2021, no less than 1,300 young people were concerned. “We intervene in schools from primary school onwards, through workshops of creation focused on current music. Teaching through music comes before teaching music. It is a way of approaching, for example, subjects such as slavery through the history of the blues, or the mixture of cultures through that of rock”, explains Cyril Vico, musician and speaker and head of the Topophone educational center. “After these creative journeys, young people record their creations and perform on stage. The association also organizes the Ellipse festival each year in September, interactive concerts which are an opportunity for artists and students to meet. It also develops European projects to promote artistic exchanges and training between cultural actors and young musicians, it also wishes to extend its action to rural areas.