The Music'All project places the spotlight on surpassing yourself, social cohesion and acceptance of difference

This article was first published on edhec.edu - 16/04/2024 

70 students mobilised on stage and backstage, hundreds of hours of work, over 2,500 spectators expected for two evenings of performances... Music'All, EDHEC Business School's student association, which creates a musical every year involving young people with mental disabilities, presented its new production, "Que les vents te mènent", on the stage of the Théâtre Sébastopol in Lille on 9 and 10 April 2024. This ambitious project illustrates the richness of community life at EDHEC. 

For nearly two hours, the soloists, dancers, actors and musicians performed this 28th creation by the Music'All association, based on the story of an isolated village whose peace and quiet are disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious traveller. This imaginary tale was supported by a meticulous production, with changes of scenery for each scene, sound and light effects on stage and in the auditorium, and numerous costumes and props. A rich production, made possible in particular by "the 36 students backstage, who worked all year in the logistics, costume and set design and graphic design departments to bring this show to life", explains Lucie Fayet, president of the association.

Founded in 1996, the EDHEC Music'All student association is an artistic, social and solidarity-based project, "whose ambition is to place the emphasis on surpassing oneself, social cohesion and acceptance of difference", emphasised Alexandre Caron, Director of Student Life, on the evening of the first performance. The association also proves, for the duration of a show, that difference does not exclude competence". In fact, every year, young people from the D.A.M.E (Dispositif d'Accompagnement Médico-Educatif) scheme at Le Roitelet in Tourcoing are involved in every stage of the show's creation. From September to December 2023, five young people from the D.A.M.E. were accompanied by members of the association as they discovered singing, acting and directing. From January 2024 onwards, the artists, the organising team and the young people met every week to build and rehearse the musical in which they would take to the stage. With the profits from the show, the Music'All association will finance a cultural and educational outing in June for around forty young people from the D.A.M.E. programme.