Ecomusicality

Through the exciting collaboration enabled by the Global Competence Partnership project, it was a pleasure to produce an article recently with Koji Matsunobu that endorses the notion of Ecomusicality as a basis for environmentally-conscious ways of teaching music.

 

Our co-authored work is now being published in the oldest arts-related scholarly journal Arts Education Policy Review.

 

Our article extends on several of Matsunobu’s notable publications in this field, and some aspects are related to an article I published a few years ago in the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education.

 

Here is the complete bibliographic reference and a link:

 

Matsunobu, K., & Hebert, D. G. (2025). Advancing sustainability in music education through eco-musicality. Arts Education Policy Review, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2025.2466440

 

PhD Course Admissions

It is exciting to see that we had 45 applicants for the PhD course Creative Innovations in Higher Education at the 2025 Bergen Summer Research School.

The applications came from all around the world: so many strong doctoral students across an array of academic fields. Unfortunately, we can only accept about 20 and there is a limited number of scholarships to support course fees, as well as airfare and/or lodging costs.   

I understand the applicants will soon be contacted about the results and offers, and I eagerly look forward to seeing who will join us for this unique summer school experience.

 

New PhD Dissertation on Cantonese Opera

It was a pleasure to serve recently as External Examiner for the PhD defense of Dr. Kimmie Sin-Yee Ma with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Kimmie Sin-Yee Ma’s dissertation is on the teaching and learning of Pai-he, the instrumental accompaniment for Cantonese opera, a form of traditional Chinese cultural heritage that is especially associated with Hong Kong. 

Prof. Bo-wah Leung was the main supervisor for this study, and Koji Matsunobu was another supervisor. Through the Global Competence Partnership project, I participated as External Examiner along with Chee Hoo Lum.   

At the doctoral defense, all reviewers indicated the study has many strengths and makes important new insights into this field. In addition to offering robust empirical research on how this unique music is professionally taught, Dr. Ma also developed a theoretical model for how her findings can be applied in diverse educational settings. The findings promise to be relevant for the transmission and institutionalization of traditional music heritage not only in Hong Kong, but also in other settings worldwide, especially in relation to opera traditions.  

The final version of Dr. Ma’s dissertation will soon be made publicly available, and if possible I will provide a link here to it.

One image shown here is from a recent Cantonese opera performance I attended in Hong Kong and the other is from Dr. Ma’s defense.

Visit to Faroes

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting University of the Faroe Islands where I am an Affiliated Professor. There I gave some presentations for the Faculty of Education’s professors and lecturers: one on how to creatively sustain one’s research productivity across time through interdisciplinary collaboration, and another on the new challenges of AI for philosophy of education.

I also met with my PhD student, who is doing excellent work in the fields of music education and historical ethnomusicology, as well as the Dean regarding opportunities for future research collaborations. Additionally, we visited several sites, including the national gallery and museum, the main music school, and ancient cathedral ruins.

The Faroe Islands is a remarkably beautiful place with a long history and unique identity. I am impressed by the work at its university in the capital, Torshavn, where it has been a great pleasure to cooperate with the education faculty across recent years.

Keynote for AI & Artistic Innovation Conference

I eagerly look forward to giving a keynote speech “Quality and Originality in AI-Enhanced Higher Education Arts Programs” for the AI & Artistic Innovation conference at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand), in late June, 2025.

This exciting event will bring together experts from many different art forms and promises to advance important and timely discussions regarding the opportunities, safety, and long-term impacts of AI development in the arts and higher education.

More details will be posted here when available.

 

ISME Book Series Editorship

I am pleased to announce that as of February 2025, I have just been appointed Senior Editor of the book series formally affiliated with the International Society for Music Education (ISME).

Since 2017, the ISME book series has been making notable scholarly contributions to the field of music education internationally through monographs and edited volumes around two thematic areas: (1) global perspectives and (2) specialist themes. The 15th book in this series is now published, and it has been a pleasure to serve on its Editorial Board, which was only recently established.

Until now, the series has been published by Routledge. ISME is in the process of renegotiating the contract for this series, which may involve consideration of alternative presses. Routledge is a fine press, and I am hoping we can secure better terms for our authors to ensure the series has a deeper impact that shapes the future of music education globally.

I am also Editor of a book series in the field of historical ethnomusicology and serve on the Board of a book series on research methodologies. 

Displayed above is one of the recent books from the ISME series in music education.

Music Law Postdoc and other Grants

It is a great pleasure to announce that Judge Karan Choudhary, PhD, has been awarded a 2-year fellowship from the EU’s MSCA postdoctoral program to join the GAME research group in Bergen, Norway. He will be traveling from India, where he has worked as a judge across recent years. Karan's project is titled “Legal Challenges posed by AI Generated Music: A Comparative study of Copyright Laws of China, India, Norway, USA and UK, to develop a suitable Global Legal Framework specifically for AI Generated Music (Music Law)”.  

Here is an announcement on the university website: https://www.hvl.no/en/news/marie-curie-eng/

Most of the 2-year postdoctoral appointment (2025-2027) will be spent working with me in Norway, but Karan will also have a residency with Prof. Robert Burrell at Oxford Law School. The outcome of this postdoc will be co-authored journal articles and a new book on the implications of AI for music law. We are very grateful to the European Commission for its generous support of this project. 

The GAME research group also had another outstanding candidate for the EU’s MSCA postdoctoral fellowship this year, and that application scored quite highly but was placed on the waiting list. We remain hopeful that project too might receive funding soon for an important study that explores the impact of climate change on music and dance heritage in southern Africa. 

GAME also continues to await the results of a Horizon Europe application on political expression in minority musics that scored very highly and was placed on a waiting list, as well as an application to the Norwegian government to establish a new AI research center in Bergen (for which I co-lead a work package in the field of Higher Education). Additionally, we are leading a new Horizon Europe application on the theme of culture virtualization.

Sami Music and Singing Maps

It is a great pleasure to announce that the Norwegian Research Council has awarded major funding for the Singing Maps project for the period 2025-2028, affiliated to the GAME research group, with David Thorarinn Johnson as its PI.

The project will support the expenses for notable Sami musician-researchers to collaborate in our team, as well as new PhD students and/or postdoctoral researchers, as we document Sami musical traditions and co-create new educational resources to ensure Sami heritage is appropriately honored in Nordic schools.

The full title of the project is “Singing Maps: developing online music communities to support Sámi adolescent cultural resilience”. We are excited about what this project is likely to accomplish in what we collectively envision as a successfully decolonized approach to Indigenizing music education.

Displayed above is the Sapmi region, the Sami traditional homeland that intersects several northern states.

Global Music Organizations

It was a pleasure to participate in two events in January 2025 with major arts organizations that are connected to UNESCO, a reassuring reminder (during a global surge in far-right protectionist populism) of the promising but often elusive dream of equitable and effective global cooperation in the sphere of educational and cultural activities.

Through the International Music Council, the International Society for Music Education (ISME) maintains an affiliation with UNESCO, being the global organization concerned with supporting music teaching and learning. Also, the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD) is an NGO in formal consultative relations with UNESCO that supports the study of all traditional music and dance worldwide.

I currently serve on the Executive Committee and Board of ISME, which recently met in Thailand to plan our upcoming activities. Also, at ICTMD in New Zealand, I gave a presentation along with colleague David Johnson related to the Empowering Voices project for which we have sought funding from the EU.

While international organizations are invariably complex, they play a uniquely important role by raising the visibility of professional concerns and offering specialized knowledge and support. In these complicated times, we need international arts organizations to be proactive, which requires participation and input from those who have suggestions for how they can develop a more sustainable and impactful quality and scope of activities.

Keynote for Music Research Today 2025

I look forward to giving a keynote speech for the Music Research Today 2025 conference in Sweden, which this year is on the theme of Music and Politics.

“Musikforskning idag (Music Research Today) brings music researchers in all disciplines together. This year's conference is hosted by the School of Music, Theatre and Art at Örebro University. The conference will take place on October 22rd - 24^th…”

Click on the links below for more information:

https://www.oru.se/english/schools/music-theatre-and-art/research/music-research-today-2025/music-research-today-2025---call-for-papers/

https://www.oru.se/english/schools/music-theatre-and-art/research/music-research-today-2025/

Decolonization of Academia in Norway

It was a great pleasure to participate in a recent panel discussion on Decolonization of Academia with two brilliant colleagues based in Bergen, Anwesha Dutta and Wesley Maraire, moderated by Maria Lie Jordheim, vice president of the SAIH organization.

It is exciting to see growing interest and support for decolonization among university students in Norway, even while there is a very slow response, and stubborn resistance, from some professors and university management.

Here is a link to a relevant article about decolonization and SAIH: https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/nordiccie/article/view/3903

 

Here are links to a few of my recent publications related to decolonization:

 

Ways to decolonize philosophy of education:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-0139-5

 

Why university studies (in music) need to be decolonized:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02557614241281992

 

Ways of decolonizing approaches to cultural diplomacy and music research:

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793642929/Ethnomusicology-and-Cultural-Diplomacy

 

Ways of decolonizing intercultural collaborative arts projects:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/shared-listenings/42CBDD3A9729681176DBB7502796D56A