Sociomusicology: October 2015

10/8/15

Brazil Residency

For many years I have been curious about Brazil, and must admit a deep fascination from afar with its remarkable legacy of brilliant songwriters and performers, from Antonio Carlos Jobim, to Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania, Ivan Lins, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, and so many others.

In the field of classical art music, a particularly beautiful piece from Brazil is the soprano solo with chamber orchestra from “Bachianas Brasileiras No.5” by Heitor Villa Lobos. My favorite performance of that piece was sung about a year ago by soprano Laia Falcon on an island in the Netherlands. Early this year I enjoyed hearing Njål Vindenes perform one of the many brilliant guitar solos by Villa-Lobos.

I am very thankful to now be receiving funding from the government of Brazil, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico "National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development" (CNPq), for a brief stay as Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre. While there, I will be giving lectures and advising research for the university’s PhD program in music (regarded as among the very best in Latin America), and doing some performing and workshops. The Brazilian institution has approached Bergen University College about some collaborative research projects, and other forms of cooperation. The music programs in Bergen already have agreements with universities in many different countries, but this is our first prospect in Latin America, and I have also been helping the institution to develop relations with institutions in East Asia across recent years (both China and Japan).

From Brazil, Professor Liane Hentschke and I will also give a presentation via videoconference for the national Chinese music education association meeting in Shanghai regarding development of the Open Global Academy of Music initiative, based in Beijing. During this time, I will also film a teaching video and do some videoconferencing for the PhD program in Bergen, so our Norwegian students can get a taste of what is available in Brazil. Upon returning to Europe, I will go to Iceland for the annual meeting of the Nordic Network for Music Education, and respond to papers by Master students from various Nordic and Baltic nations.

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).