Decolonization of Musical Arts Education

It was a pleasure to learn just a few days ago that an article co-authored with my PhD student Erisa Walubo has been accepted by the journal Philosophy of Music Education Review. We expect it to be published sometime in the next six months.

The article offers a novel philosophical analysis of differing views on the notion of decolonization and how it can be applied to music education, or what is called “musical arts” education in much of Africa (since there it often entails the integration of singing, drumming, dancing, story-telling, and other practices).

Erisa Walubo is now revising what promises to be a strong PhD dissertation on Indigenous music and dance practices in Ugandan education, and has other interesting research articles in various stages of writing. Our collaboration, and Erisa’s doctoral studies, are sponsored by the CABUTE project, which also has many other publications under development, including by our postdoctoral researchers in music education James Isabirye and Milton Wabyona.

We eagerly look forward to seeing what the entire team will accomplish through the CABUTE project and the long-term impacts that their work will have for the improvement of education in Uganda. 

Congratulations to Erisa and the entire CABUTE team!  

Keynote Speech in China

I look forward to giving a keynote speech on Music Diplomacy for a major event in September 2025 at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Some of my favorite music scholars will be there. 

Click HERE for details.

Fieldwork Begins in Sapmi

It is exciting to be visiting Sapmi, the Sami homeland in the far north of the Nordic countries, for research on the Sami joik and singing practices. The Sapmi Singing Map project is probably the largest research project ever on Sami singing, involving a team of researchers (interdisciplinary, both Sami and non-Sami) across the next four years, with the purpose of not only documenting the joik but also developing research-based and culturally appropriate educational resources.

As part of the first phase of fieldwork, the team is visiting Kautokeino, Maze, and Øksfjord to interview and film notable joikers from diverse localities and generations. Yesterday we also crossed the Finnish border, filming the local nature and wildlife to help show the context of this heritage. There will be several more visits across the coming years, in different seasons, to help us better understand how to meaningfully describe this remarkable land and its unique people.

 

Hong Kong Summer School 2025

Five PhD students and postdoctoral researchers are now accompanying me to participate in the 2025 International Postgraduate Roundtable cum Summer School (IPRRFSS) hosted by the Graduate School, Education University of Hong Kong.

 

Established in 2011, the IPRRFSS offers an array of interdisciplinary research presentations in various formats. This is my second time to participate.

 

The 2025 theme is “Interdisciplinary Frontiers: Exploring Mind, Language and Environment for a Sustainable Future” and keynote speakers include psychologist Tatia Lee, linguist Xiaofei Lu, social psychologist Ying-yi Hong, educationist Marcus Pietsch, and other renowned scholars. I will be performing some music for the event's Gala Dinner along with EdUHK pianist Philbert Li (links to some of our previous performances are HERE and HERE).

 

We look forward to seeing the outcomes from this exciting event which is likely to inspire the young scholars who come to IPRRFSS from many different countries.

 

Below is a video from the 2024 IPRRFSS …

Image source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong#/media/File:Kowloon_Panorama_by_Ryan_Cheng_2010.jpg

More recordings are available HERE.

ISME Board in Montreal

Montreal is one of the largest cities in North America, with a diverse and vibrant arts scene. Above is a photo of downtown Montreal that I took shortly after arriving here.

It is a pleasure to be visiting Montreal for a board meeting of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), held here since we plan to hold the 37^th ISME World Conference in Montreal in one year: 26-31 July 2026.

The deadline to propose presentations for ISME 2026 is coming very soon!

Here is the conference website: https://www.ismeworldconference.org/isme26

Global Philosophy of Education

Details have now been announced for a unique conference on Global Philosophy of Education scheduled for 19-20 March 2026 in Amsterdam.

Posted here is the Call for Papers and other essential information. I am thankful to be one of the Invited Speakers along with distinguished scholars from around the world. 

The deadline to propose standard paper presentations is 15 November 2025. 

It is exciting to see a shared impetus toward more formally establishing this field, which is particularly coming from the conference hosts in Amsterdam. I look forward to participating and hope to see many colleagues there with a deep interest in global educational theory. 

 

Activities in Australasia, Summer 2025

It is exciting to now be visiting Australia for a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Symposium for Music Education Research (APSMER). This trip is sponsored by the Global Competence Partnership project since I will give a presentation here in Perth with our Hong Kong-based partner Koji Matsunobu.

Earlier in this voyage, I also gave a speech on AI for a symposium at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, joined a Board meeting of the Open Global Music Academy (OGMA), and taught Arts Policy for law students at China University of Political Science and Law.

Displayed here are photos from the event in Thailand, the CUPL course, the OGMA Board meeting, and a visit to the University of Melbourne school of music led by its former director Gary McPherson.