Sociomusicology: New PhD Dissertation on Cantonese Opera

2/21/25

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.

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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).