Sociomusicology: October 2009

10/28/09

New Music Programme Launch at Womex

Today I am at the enormous Womex event in Copenhagen, Denmark (and nearby Malmo, Sweden) for the official launch of the Glomus Network and its affiliated Master of Global Music Program. These highly innovative new developments promise to open up unprecedented opportunities for all kinds of musical studies in Northern Europe, including especially the music of Africa and the Middle East, as well as creative work in intercultural hybrid forms. It has been exciting to play such an active role in the planning of these new initiatives which may broaden the landscape of music in European higher education.

10/16/09

Choral Concert by Kampin Laulu

MERI (The Sea)
Kampin Laulu Chamber Choir
Cafe Jugend, Pohjoisesplanadi 19, Helsinki, Finland.
Saturday, 7^th of November, 2009, at 4pm.
Tickets: 8.00-12.00 EUR

The sea will serve as the theme for the Kampin Laulu Chamber Choir's upcoming concert, featuring both old and new chamber choir music, mostly by Nordic composers:
Kuula - Nevanlinna - Segerstam - Vainio - Vidjeskog - Whitacre.
Conductor: Eric-Olof Söderström.

I sing the lowest bass parts with the choir. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.kampinlaulu.fi/en/

10/9/09

Two European Doctorates in Music

Two of the doctoral students I have been advising are nearly complete with the revisions to their theses, and will soon be giving their final doctoral presentations and graduating from the Sibelius Academy, in Helsinki, Finland:

-Tapani Heikinheimo (completion on 15 November 2009, Sibelius Academy): Intensity of Interaction in Instrumental Music Lessons (co-supervisor)

-Arnold Chiwalala (completion on 9 November 2009, Sibelius Academy): Chizentele: My Path to Original Artistry and Creative Fusion of Ngoma with Finnish Folk Music and Dance (co-supervisor)

Tapani Heikinheimo is the student with whom I have worked the most since coming to Sibelius Academy more than one year ago. His study offers new insights into the dynamic process of teaching and learning in one-to-one instrumental music lessons. Tapani’s other supervisors are activity theory expert Ritva Engestrom and music education philosopher Heidi Westerlund.

Arnold Chiwalala is a unique musician who has written an autobiographical and reflective thesis on his own artistic development as a renowned Tanzanian-Finnish songwriter, musician, and intercultural performing artist. His study offers new insights into issues in intercultural artistic development. Chiwalala’s other examiner is Finnish folk music expert Hannu Saha, and committee members include Heikki Laitinen and Alfonso Padilla.

It has been a great pleasure to work with such outstanding musicians and scholars, and I am certain both Tapani and Arnold will continue to make a difference in the field of music.

10/4/09

Music and Youth

Today, at 28 years old, Gustavo Dudamel debuted as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, one of the world's great symphony orchestras. The story of Dudamel's musical upbringing, now widely known, demonstrates that new opportunities have emerged in the traditional field of European classical art music, and that age and nationality are increasingly viewed as unreliable indicators of ability at even the highest levels of musical leadership.

Dudamel’s visionary work in Venezuela with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra has also demonstrated the positive outcomes of national programs for community music education in economically challenged circumstances.

Links:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-dudamel-color4-2009oct04,0,3386151.story

http://www.gustavodudamel.com/

Here is a video clip of Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra:

Welcome to Sociomusicology

For over 15 years (since 2007), this website has offered musings on contemporary society and its music by David G. Hebert, PhD. He is a sociomusicologist specializing in global music education who has held academic positions with universities on five continents. Dr. Hebert is now a tenured full Professor with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education (GAME) research group and manages the multinational government-funded Nordic Network for Music Education, which organizes annual intensive Master courses and exchange of teachers and students across eight countries. He is also an Affiliated Professor with University of the Faroe Islands and an Honorary Professor in China with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Professor Hebert's research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as processes by which new music traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Born in the 1970s, he is among the most widely-published and globally-active music scholars of his generation (h-index:20; i10-index:30), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).