Les Percussions de Strasbourg maintains regular work with associations and schools in the Hautepierre neighborhood, where the ensemble is in residence. These partnerships, developed notably through the Percustra project (music creation workshops), are enriched each year. The partnership includes four institutions: Jacqueline Elementary School, Brigitte Elementary School, Truffaut Middle School, and Érasme Middle School.
The goal of this partnership is to offer students a discovery of the ensemble’s universe through various lenses: practice, listening, and playing, as well as an introduction to professions in the performing arts. It aims to provide an approach to contemporary music, its repertoire, and its practitioners.
Percustra Workshops
The ensemble has been established in the Hautepierre neighborhood for 40 years and has always advocated for access to percussion and its repertoire in various forms throughout its 60 years of existence. The Percustra project embodies this commitment. Originally, it referred to a pedagogical method free from traditional music notation, using graphic scores accessible to everyone. Continuously evolving, the project now fosters a connection between the ensemble and the neighborhood residents, allowing them privileged access to contemporary percussion. This project is developed in collaboration with educational, social, and community partners in Hautepierre. Throughout the year, four classes from Érasme and Truffaut middle schools, as well as Brigitte and Jacqueline elementary schools, create musical works during workshops led by Les Percussions de Strasbourg. At the end of these 30 hours of workshops, a presentation concert takes place in June at the Théâtre de Hautepierre, as the opening act for a performance by Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
More information on the workshops and past years.
In-School Concerts
Each year, as part of the partnership between the ensemble and the four Hautepierre schools, Les Percussions de Strasbourg visit the schools to present an “in situ” program.
• In 2025, Les Percussions de Strasbourg performed the brand-new Minimal program for the first time in front of a live audience! Four works from the minimalist repertoire, including a new creation by Camille Pépin.
• In April 2024, the ensemble presented a program combining classical and contemporary works by Iannis Xenakis and Johann Sebastian Bach.
• In 2023, Les Percussions de Strasbourg performed a work by Denis Fageton for a juggler and a percussionist, Jeu Blanc.
• In 2022, the ensemble presented the show L’Air(e), a hybrid performance combining improvisation and electronics for three percussionists.
The Ear Olympics
Launched in 2022 around the online game Meludia (cognitive training applied to music), the project has now expanded beyond the virtual dimension. Les Percussions de Strasbourg designed interactive and playful games to develop auditory skills and introduce musical theory concepts. This project is presented through five games as an educational tool for learning music.
The Ear Olympics took place across the two middle schools. Throughout the year, teachers trained students to reach the final, held on the stage of the Théâtre de Hautepierre with Les Percussions de Strasbourg acting as referees and game leaders. Students compete in teams on real instruments across five themes: rhythm, harmony, pitch, density, and melody.
Winners of previous editions:
• 2025 edition: Truffaut Middle School
• 2024 edition: Truffaut Middle School (4ème 7)
• 2023 edition: Érasme Middle School (3ème C)
• 2022 edition: Érasme Middle School (5ème B)
Other Activities
(+) Introduction to careers in the music sector and meetings between students and professionals during forums organized by the association D-Clic at Érasme, Truffaut, and Sophie Germain middle schools.
(+) Hosting third-year interns, mentored by a team member according to the profession to be explored (music, production and administration, public relations, or technical work).
(+) Participation in rentrée en musique at the start of the school year in September.
(+) Priority access to activities of Les Percussions de Strasbourg: school concerts or outreach activities (discovery workshops, Instrumentarium tours, commented rehearsals, etc.). All activities are detailed here.
