Sociomusicology

6/18/25

Music Diplomacy in Europe

It was thrilling to finally have a chance to visit a uniquely important center for music diplomacy in Europe, the Barenboim Said Academy, in Berlin, Germany.

I am so grateful for the invitation to give a lecture, meet students and staff, and learn all about their innovative activities. Particularly during this time, when tensions in the Middle East are surely as difficult as ever before, it is exciting to see what is being accomplished in Berlin through the unique power of music.

I am eager to return, and look forward to new collaborations and opportunities to report on their inspiring activities.

Approaches: Music Therapy

A special issue has just been published, Ethical Questions in Transforming Music Practices, in the journal Approaches – The Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy.

It was a pleasure to serve on the Board under the leadership of Sanna Kivijärvi and Taru Koivisto.

The published issue is available online through these links: https://journals.qmu.ac.uk/approaches/issue/view/36/34 (PDF) and here https://journals.qmu.ac.uk/approaches/issue/view/36 (Journal's website).

5/29/25

Echoes of the Anthropocene

I look forward to giving an invited presentation for the Association for Future Music Education (AFME)’s 5th International Conference in Seoul, Korea (February 6-7, 2026).

The conference is titled “Echoes of the Anthropocene: Rethinking Music Education in an Era of Crisis.”

Seoul is a very high-tech city that I have very much enjoyed visiting over the years, and here is a link to one of my publications that contains discussions of Korea:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-68434-5

Image source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#/media/File:Seoul_(175734251)_(cropped).jpg

5/22/25

BSRS 2025 PhD Candidates

It is nearly time for the 2025 Bergen Summer Research School!

The PhD Candidates for the first cohort of our new course Creative Innovations in Higher Education are coming to Bergen, Norway from 17 different countries and territories: South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Philippines, China, India, Spain, Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, and the Faroe Islands.

They also represent a broad array of academic fields, from the natural sciences to social sciences, arts, and humanities.

We expect two weeks of exciting discussions that may lead to some long-term collaborations to strengthen conditions and practices at universities worldwide.

This year, BSRS is led by Birgit Kopainsky, a prolific researcher and professor of systems dynamics at University of Bergen.

Click HERE to access the original song we presented at the Opening Event of BSRS 2025.

5/7/25

APSMER conference in Perth

It is exciting to soon be giving presentations at the Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (APSMER) conference in Perth, Australia.

APSMER is the Asia and Pacific regional conference of ISME, a global organization for which I serve on the Executive Committee and Board.

My presentations this year include (1) a co-authored paper with Koji Matsunobu that expands further on the concept of eco-musicality that we propose as a basis for philosophy of music education, and (2) a symposium presentation with Jiaxing Xie on our new book (now in the final editing stages) called A Philosophy of Music Education for the Era of AI: Dialogue between Chinese and Western Perspectives (Routledge).

We will also launch an innovative project that has been in development for several years, the Open Global Music Academy (OGMA) network, which will now be affiliated with APSMER.

I look forward to seeing colleagues and learning about the latest research in this field from across the Asia and Pacific regions.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth#/media/File:Perth_CBD_skyline_from_State_War_Memorial_Lookout,_2023,_04_b.jpg

Keynote at Philosophy of Education conference

I look forward to giving an invited keynote speech for the Global Philosophy of Education conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in March 2026.

This event is being organized as part of the project Global Philosophy of Education (GlobalPhilEd), sponsored by Volkswagen Stiftung, and led by philosophers in Germany and the Netherlands, including Anders Schinkel, Johannes Drerup and Anouk Zuurmond.

This event promising to be very interesting, with discussion of ideas concerning educational philosophy from around the world.

Image source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam#/media/File:KeizersgrachtReguliersgrachtAmsterdam.jpg

4/16/25

Doctoral Dissertation Seminar

It is exciting to now be hosting a joint doctoral dissertation seminar through the GAME research group, with participants from several countries and regions: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Norway, and Uganda.

Here is our seminar schedule for 16 April 2025:

Presenter and Respondent; Presentation Title

Sherry Qiaoyue Liu (respondent, Dr. David G. Hebert)

Impact of Participating in a Community Choir on Adults in Shenzhen, China

Flora Jinhan Wei (respondent, Dr. James Isabirye)

Pre-Service Music Teachers in Mainland China: A Mixed-Method Research

Kristian Tverli Iversen (respondent, Dr. Yuki Morijiri)

Research Design for a Study of AI in Music Education

SHORT BREAK

Elizabeth Anne Oltedal (respondent, Dr. Yuki Morijiri)

Conviction and compromise: An exploratory study of social moderation in the assessment of music performance

Marianne Løkke Jakobsen (respondent, Dr. Luna Ning Luo)

A Study of Interactions and Learning Experiences in the Cross-Cultural Virtual Learning Space: Case Studies of Instrumental Music Education between Denmark and China

Kay Wing-Ki Li (respondent, Dr. David G. Hebert)

Cultural Differences in Metacognitive Teaching: A Study of Instrumental Music Learning in Hong Kong

SHORT BREAK

Erisa Walubo (respondent, Dr. Luna Ning Luo)

Decolonising Ugandan Primary Music Teacher Education through exploration of Indigenous practices of Amayebe musical tradition

Sergio Garcia-Cuesta (respondent, Dr. James Isabirye)

Citizens Are/As Artists: An integrative approach to music education

Knut Eysturstein (respondent, Dr. Milton Wabyona)

Tracing Faroese Music Heritage in Education: Archival and Interview-Based Approaches

David G. Hebert: Concluding Remarks

Welcome to Sociomusicology

For nearly 20 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 both University of the Faroe Islands and Kyambogo University (Uganda), 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:21), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).