Kobe University Jean-Monnet CoE held a mini-symposium on Wednesday, 26 January, 2022 for students of Kobe University Secondary School. At the mini-symposium, Professor FUJINO Kazuo of Professional College of Arts and Tourism gave a lecture on "The Allure of Public Theater and Musical Culture from Germanic Countries", and Professor MATSUO Risa of Graduate School of Arts and Science, The University of Tokyo gave a lecture on "Current Music Scene in Poland".

Professor Fujino's lecture first touched upon the situation of opera in Germany. There are three opera houses in Berlin, capital of Germany, and people can enjoy opera performances at relatively low prices every day at these theaters, because the central and local government subsidise almost half of their operating costs. Second, he mentioned that there are almost 80 opera houses throughout Germany, and the opera culture has taken root in local cities as well as in Berlin, which contrasts to Japan where any operas are not performed in some local prefectures while a large number of operas are performed in Tokyo. His message was that public theaters play a big role in inheriting the music culture in Germany, and recommended students to watch live operas in Germany.

Professor Matsuo began her lecture to explain how Chopin incorporated Mazurkas, Polish folk rhythm, and Polish poems in his compositions, and added how she learned the Polish music at Warsaw university, and how she came to interpret Chopin's music. Second, she pointed out that debating is very important in the music education in Europe, and emphasised students should use debating to think by themselves and to fix their knowledge to learn.

After the lecture, a high school student gave thanks words, and Professor Yoshii gave closing remarks, mentioning the importance to feel the real thing and to learn the fundamentals before using the debating.