The first week of July will officially finish the course in Musikene, but not in any way. For days students have not gone to class, on strike to denounce the management of the center. The strike that began on 19 May was the last in the mobilizations and protests called in the last two years against the leadership position presided over by Carmen Rodríguez Suso. The goal was clear, that Musikene would return to the normal situation, and inevitably, Rodríguez Suso would leave office. The general coordinator of Podemos announced his resignation on 15 June, following a brief meeting. This was the “first step towards solution”, according to the Rally Beñat, a student of Pedagogy of Language and Musical Education.

Rodríguez Suso was appointed general coordinator of Musikene in October 2009, on the proposal of the president of the school board, the Basque Government Education Minister, Isabel Celaá. In statements to journalists after a month in office, Rodríguez Suso stressed that “having so many teachers and such good managers per square meter was one of the main reasons for Musikene’s pride.”

But these words didn't fit the reality. Immediately after his appointment, Rodriguez Suso suspended Musikene’s organic regulations and dismissed the artistic director and the center’s managing director, without a substitute being foreseen for them. It was then learned that some school officials and counselors had also resigned, angry with the new policy. This policy contemplated profound changes in Musikene, arguing that the leadership team that preceded Suso had brought the music school to an “unsustainable” situation and stressing that the economic cuts were necessary. In this regard, the Vice-Minister of Universities and Research of the Basque Government, Pedro Luis Arias, pointed out that, on the occasion of the recent dismissals, “the situation required a series of measures to be taken seriously”.

The new management measures only increased the critical voices that began to emerge among professors and, above all, among students. In February 2010, the Rules of Rights and Duties of Students of Musikene were signed to the students of the center. In a five-page document, attention was drawn to a point that sparked protests. According to the regulations, the management considered it a very serious error and, therefore, the dismissal of the student could be motivated “by conducts that, facing the outside, impair the prestige and image of Musikene”. With this measure, the team of Rodríguez Suso concealed in practice critical voices against politics, which had already begun to create reticence. Specifically, it was at that time that several students and professors of Musikene published the manifesto Musikene salve, denouncing that the new management jeopardizes the “built model” for years (today the text has the adhesion of 2,700 people linked to music).The appointment of
Juan Carlos Perez as new artistic director also provoked controversy at the National Audience in April 2010. Without questioning the artistic trajectory of the composer and member of the Itoiz group, the students denounced that it was a person without musical qualifications or experience in academic management. They criticized that the selection criteria were not those of an academic director of the higher school. The teachers also showed the direction their "surprise" and told them that the choice seemed "inappropriate". In an interview with ETB, Pérez defended himself in the decision of Musikene's patron, escaping criticism: “I presented my resume and the board considered it appropriate.”

In the interview offered
shortly after the Declaration of the Quality of Education, Juan Carlos Pérez relativized the possible consequences of the cuts proposed for Musikene: “I don’t think the cuts will influence the quality of education; it’s just going to be adapting to new numbers.”

These new measures, which were planned to deal with the economic crisis, resulted in the dismissal of 27 teachers in August 2010. The management also wanted to reduce from 114 to 50 the places of new students for the 2010-2011 course, while reducing the specializations of students from 34 to 20. The mobilizations and pressures that emerged from teachers and students rejected the intention of the management and finally, 75 places were offered, a figure significantly lower than that of the previous course. No special class known as masterclass has been held in the last year and the optional subjects that students can attend have been drastically reduced. The management also proposed the collectivization of the practice classes - so far personalized - for the training in the instrument of each student.

Contrary to the words of Juan Carlos Pérez, students and professors of Musikene repeatedly denounced that the new management measures impacted the quality of education. They emphasized the importance of individuality for the musical training of students, especially in the practical training of musical instruments, as well as the wide variety of specializations. They denounced that many students who would enroll in Musikene to study with those teachers, firing professors of recognized prestige, would not register. In the words of the piano professor at the center Enmanuel Ferrer-Laloe, Musikene had become a “theoretical school of music.” For their part, the students denounced that “in an educational center the terms of cost of companies cannot be used” because “musical training is not
a screw company”. The “excellence” achieved by Musikene over the years, which led him to be a benchmark in Europe, even more so in the state, was at risk by students and teachers, due to the measures taken by the management. They believed it was possible to guarantee a minimum of quality without the “drastic” cuts that had been made. There were voices that felt that the measures did not respond to the economic situation, but pursued other objectives. One of them is that of student Beñat Ralla, who wants to highlight that it is a personal opinion: “I have often had the suspicion that they do not want such a center for Euskal Herria. If it is not in Spain, it is not here either; that Euskal Herria does not stand out in this sense”. The words of the general coordinator, Rodríguez Suso, do not go far from this idea: “Let Musikene not be a parachutist, not an island of excellence in the middle of the ocean of mediocrity.”

As the months progressed, and through other controversial measures and suspicions, especially the denunciation of the meeting with Rodríguez
Suso Pier Cao in Paris, before he was officially appointed director of Orchestral Studies, he increased criticism of the management of the new direction. In the early days of May of this year, three members of the Musikene management team and ten counselors from the school resigned. Those who resigned denounced the lack of transparency in leadership and the lack of confidence of Rodríguez Suso's professors. They also expressed doubts about the criteria used in the process of choosing professors and positions in recent months and demanded resources to end the “precariousness” that reduced the quality of education. Given the inability to cope with the situation, Juan Carlos Pérez himself resigned on 18 May, after almost a year in office.

The students, who also considered the resignation of the general coordinator, Rodríguez Suso, to solve the situation, intensified their protests and called for a strike on May 19, signed by 68.75% of the students. On the Boulevard de Donostia-San Sebastián the claim came to society through concerts.

Finally, on June 15, Rodríguez Suso surrendered his position to the patron of Musikene, who resigned the following day. This opened the way to the measure agreed days before by the heads of the Department of Education and the Musikene Business Committee. Accordingly, two management committees will be set up, one with three members, chaired by Patricio Goyalde, and another joint committee, which will be represented by all sectors of the educational community. They will be in charge of bringing normality to Musikene from now on and those who take on the challenge of returning quality to music education, in order to repair the damaged “excellence”. The students have also been in favor of the measure and live the situation with hope, as according to the Rally “Patri Goyalde is the person who gives us confidence”.