Sociological Approaches to Western Music in Japan

I am pleased to announce that there will be a session on the topic "Sociological Approaches to Western Music in Japan" by the Research Committee for the Sociology of Arts at the International Sociological Association's Eighteenth World Congress of Sociology (July 13-19, 2014, Yokohama, Japan):

http://www.isa-sociology.org/congress2014/rc/rc.php?n=RC37

Session title: Sociological approaches to western music in Japan

Session organiser: David G. Hebert, Bergen University College, Norway

ABSTRACT:  

This session features research into historical and contemporary aspects of western music in Japan, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Presenters include musicologists, sociologists and experienced performers, who address what is "Japanese" about the phenomenon of western music in Japan, as well as how Japan has made unique contributions to global practices in this field. Research in this session will be based on case studies of notable ensembles and individual musicians, as well as more holistic examination of institutions and social practices that illustrate how aspects of Japanese and European traditions have fused through creative agency. 



Interested scholars may contact me for details and announcements will also be on the ISA website.

Music Conference in Tanzania 2013

In a few months I will be going to Tanzania - for the first time - as Keynote Speaker for the 7^th annual Ethnomusicology Symposium, held at the University of Dar es Salaam in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I will also conduct a workshop there and give a speech in Zanzibar.

This annual symposium has reportedly become “the most popular professional event in African ethnomusicology” and many well-known scholars have been invited to give keynote presentations in the past, including Prof. J.H. Kwabena Nketia, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kubik and Prof. Patricia Shehan Campbell.

I am very thankful that both University of Dar es Salaam (especially Professor Mitchel Strumpf) and my institution, Bergen University College, agreed to sponsor this visit. My former doctoral student Arnold Chiwalala may also be joining the symposium as a guest performer and lecturer. 

Link to Dr. Chiwalala’s latest album:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/arnoldchiwalalaband

I have been terribly impressed by all my previous contacts with Tanzanian musicians, and Tanzanian people in general, and I look forward to learning more and exploring how we might strengthen ties between the Nordic region and East Africa in the field of music.

Master of Global Music Program Evaluation in Ghana

An article I co-authored with Eva Saether on the Master of Global Music program's intensive camp in Ghana will soon be published in the journal Music Education Research.

Here are links to various videos (filmed by others at the camp) as well some additional files that also document the project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWeSsRtCPuw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWrsJ8WlZt4

http://www.box.net/shared/crooa37pp3

http://www.box.net/shared/mxcs7dhriv

RPIVA Visit and Balta Performance

Here are links from my recent lecture “Music Education Around the World” in Latvia at the Riga Teaching Training and Educational Management Academy (RPIVA), as well as a seminar in which I was advising the university’s PhD students in music:

http://www.rpiva.lv/index.php?&mh=akt_bildes&galerija=711

http://www.rpiva.lv

http://sociomusicology.blogspot.com/2013/02/residency-in-riga.html

RPIVA is a very stimulating environment, with a lot of research activity, and Riga is a pleasant city bustling with music. During my residency I had a chance to see a stunning performance by the institution’s extraordinary women’s choir Balta, and to perform with musicians in Riga’s fine jazz scene, attend a final doctoral defense (disputation), and meet with various music scholars.

Balta truly seems to be one of the most outstanding women’s choirs in the world today. I look forward to seeing them perform again. Here is some information about Balta from the RPIVA website:

"BALTA is founded in 1999. 
Artistic director and conductor of the choir is Prof. Dr. Mara Marnauza. 
Pianist – Laimrota Kriumane. 
Students of Music teacher program, other programs and students and graduates from other universities are the members of the choir. 
Choir BALTA has participated with a great success in 4 International competitions.

•   Choir took the 1st prize in female choir category and Grand prix in X International choir competition in Budapest (Hungary) in 2005.

•   BALTA took the 1st prize in Female choir category, the 3rd place in Folk music category and the special prize of jury for bright interpretation of J.Tamulonis “The Sea” in International competition for Universities' choirs in Pardubice (Czech Republic) in 2002.

•   Choir took the 3rd prize in International choir competition of Franz Schubert in Vienna (Austria) in 2000.

•   BALTA took the 3rd place in International choir competition in Klaipeda (Lithuania) in 1999.

The choir has improved vocal and artistic master hood in several master-classes of famous conductors such as English conductor and composer Bob Chilcot and Czech conductor Alexander Vacek and American composer and conductor Arthur Maud. BALTA has successfully toured coming to the front and acquiring the acknowledgement from professional musicians and reviewers as well as from the public in Latvia and abroad (Germany, Norway, Austria, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Germany etc.). 
There are original pieces of Latvian classical and modern composers, Latvian folk music, music of various styles and periods by different world composers – from renaissance to jazz - in the repertoire of BALTA. 
First CD of BALTA “Sparks of Light” is recorded in 2003 in Riga 's Sound record studio. 
In the future BALTA is looking forward to new programs, joining highly professional singing, stage choreography and direction." 

Research and Development Conference

FoU Conference in Bergen

The Faculty of Education at Bergen University College will soon host its annual "FoU Konferanse" event on Research and Development (abbr. FoU in Norwegian) on April 9 and 10, 2013. 

The FoU Conference will feature presentations related to research methods as well as cultural performances. I look forward to giving a keynote speech "Enriching Education through International-Comparative Research" and performing with DATES, our faculty a cappella vocal jazz quintet. Some of my graduate students also intend to give presentations at this conference. 

FoU Conference website: 

http://www.hib.no/aktuelt/konferanse/2013/fou-konferanse_2013_AL.asp

HiB Faculty of Education website: 

http://www.hib.no/english/AL/default.asp

HiB Music Department (Grieg Academy-Faculty of Education) website:: 

http://www.hib.no/english/AL/music/default.asp

[pictured: public domain image of Viking lurs]

Deadline for Nordic Conference on East Asia

The 25th anniversary conference of the Nordic Association of Japanese and Korean Studies (NAJAKS) will be held in Bergen, Norway, on August 21-23, 2013. The conference theme is Translation, Education and Innovation.

Ethnomusicologist Keith Howard (Professor, SOAS) is one of the Keynote Speakers for NAJAKS 2013, and as one of the conference hosts I will be chairing the concluding plenary session. Music performances are also being planned, and we intend to organize a paper session on performing arts in East Asia. The deadline for abstract submissions is March 1^st, 2013.

Click here for more information: http://www.najaks.org/

Visit to Beijing, China

Bergen University College is looking to strengthen its relationships with Chinese institutions, and plans are in the works for another visit to Beijing in just a few months. I look forward to visiting with Chinese colleagues, and I hope more Chinese researchers will come visit Bergen University College, especially to celebrate the move into the new campus in Kronstad:

  

http://www.hib.no/english/new_campus.asp

In the upcoming trip to Beijing, I am hoping we can formally establish suitable partnerships for exchange of music teachers and students, online seminars, and various kinds of comparative research, including the Understanding Talent project:

http://www.hib.no/senter/suf/forskningsprogram/understanding-talent-chinese.asp