Keynote Speech for National Conference in China

It is a pleasure to now be developing a keynote speech for China’s 2022 national conference on music and arts education.

 

UPDATE (1 January 2023): Incredibly, this conference had 450,000 participants (online and live), with 272 paper presentations, and my keynote was viewed by 67,000 people. 

UPDATE (12 October 2022): This conference has now been postponed by about two weeks (presumably due to pandemic restrictions) and there is now a new poster for it, which I am posting here (above the other one). I just learned that on the day after our keynote speeches there will be over 200 research presentations at this event! That is about the same size as major international conferences, and shows how significant China has become in the field of music research. I eagerly look forward to it.  

UPDATE (18 September 2022): Below is the title and abstract for my keynote speech. 

Why History Matters for Music Education: Practical and Disciplinary Considerations

Abstract:

History matters for music education in that it enables music teachers to apprehend the forces that shape musical and educational conditions. Historical understandings also enable teachers to convey an appreciation for cultural heritage, as well as recognition of how performance practices evolve, along with judgements about which aspects of music matter, and what features constitute “good” music. The History Standing Committee (HSC) of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), which I now Chair, is devoted to developing a global perspective on music education history. My book Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology also demonstrates ways of producing an anthropological understanding of how music education develops. Since 2000, China has ascended in this field: traditional Chinese music has become more robustly institutionalized in major conservatoires, music genres of minority peoples have gained increasing attention, and China has even become a major center for “western” art music. Music education research from China is also growing in prominence, and it is encouraging to hear of Chinese research in the history of music education. I notice that aesthetic education is a major theme of this conference. In North America in the 1990s, praxialists shifted attention away from aesthetics to active music-making in education, but their arguments were based on Eurocentric definitions of “aesthetics,” and it is interesting to learn how this is regarded in China today. From 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted education and international relations worldwide, and its possible long-term impacts are unclear. History shows that economic risks tend to reduce public support for arts, and pandemic conditions have been a challenge for musicians worldwide. I will explore three questions: (1) How did historical musicians gain broader appreciation for their art during times of major disruption? (2) How is “aesthetic education” perceived differently in different national-educational contexts?, and (3) How might comparative-historical studies shed light on what has caused the recent blossoming of music education in China, to help ensure these successes are sustained far into the future?

Biographical Profile:

David G. Hebert, PhD is a full Professor of Music Education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education research group and manages the state-funded Nordic Network for Music Education. He is also a Board member of the International Society for Music Education, and Chair of its History Standing Committee. He serves on editorial boards of several publications and has authored articles in 35 different professional journals. Professor Hebert has lectured for several universities in China and currently holds a position as Honorary Professor with the Education University of Hong Kong. He has served on doctoral supervisory committees for universities in 13 countries, and has directed research projects on each inhabited continent. He has produced edited volumes with such titles as Advancing Music Education in Northern Europe, Patriotism and Nationalism in Music Education, Music Glocalization: Heritage and Innovation in a Digital Age, Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology, and Ethnomusicology and Cultural Diplomacy. Several Chinese scholars contributed to his latest book, Comparative and Decolonial Studies in Philosophy of Education (forthcoming, Springer press). With funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he is currently developing a music education PhD program in Uganda. 

It is also nice to see that an earlier book with Mikolaj Rykowski continues to be a “bestseller” in the top 5% with Cambridge Scholars press.