Sociomusicology: Global Music Organizations

1/30/25

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.

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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).