Sociomusicology

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

4/7/25

Intensive Nordic Master Course in Finland

The Nordic Network for Music Education (NNME) has offered joint intensive Master courses for decades that have contributed to developing a shared professional community across Nordic and Baltic countries. Today we are excited to announce that we have funding to offer a course in 2025.

The 2025 NNME course is titled Socially, Ecologically, and Ethically Responsible Music Education and will be hosted by University of the Arts Helsinki at the Kallio-Kuninkala villa on 3-7 November 2025. Prof. Marja-Leena Juntunen is the local course host.

Grants are available to cover the costs of travel, lodging, and food for a limited number of participants.

This will be an outstanding opportunity for Master students in Music Education from across the Nordic and Baltic countries to present the concepts and ongoing work on their final thesis or project and obtain useful feedback.

Participants will also have the chance to learn traditional songs and folk dances, make music with peers from other Nordic and Baltic countries, and learn from presentations related to the conference theme by Katya Thomson, Marja-Leena Juntunen, Heidi Partti, David G. Hebert, and others. Additionally, there will be traditional sauna, hikes, shared meals, and a visit to the Ainola, the home of Sibelius.

Here are links for more information about NNME and its courses:

https://www.hvl.no/en/collaboration/networks/nordic-network-for-music-education/

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781351045995/advancing-music-education-northern-europe-david-hebert-torunn-bakken-hauge

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kallio-Kuninkala_-_Sibelius_Academy_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg

3/29/25

Board Meeting in Montreal

I eagerly look forward to participating in a Board meeting of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) in Montreal, Canada, during summer 2025.

This will be an opportunity to discuss and collectively make decisions regarding ISME and its array of activities, while also making detailed plans regarding its upcoming world conference to be held in Montreal in summer 2026.

There are very interesting people on the ISME Board, from several different countries worldwide, and with expertise in diverse subfields of music education. We also have excellent leadership from the President, President-Elect, Past-President, and CEO, and the dedicated support of friendly and competent staff with the ISME executive office. This will also be my first time to Montreal, which seems to be an amazing city with a great history.

ISME is commited to democratic governance, and members are welcome to share any issues or concerns they would like to see raised for discussion at the meeting. We hope for ISME to satisfy all members for its role in supporting music education worldwide.

Public domain image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mtl_from_mont_royal_(cropped).jpg

3/13/25

Postdoc from Japan

It is an honor to announce that we will be hosting a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)-funded researcher during part of 2025-2026.

Yuki Morijiri (Associate Professor, Tokyo Gakugei University) has proposed research that will develop cross-cultural insights into Music Performance Anxiety, and other important topics, in collaboration with the GAME research group in Bergen, Norway.

Several years ago I lived in Japan, where I worked for Nichibunken, Yamanashi Gakuin University, and Tokyo Gakugei University, and ultimately produced some publications in the field of Japanese Studies. Japan has seen many changes across the years, and remains a globally prominent center for innovation in such fields as musical instruments and music technology.

We are very pleased to have this opportunity to host an accomplished researcher from a country that is so important in the fields of music and education.

Public domain image source: https://snl.no/Japans_historie_etter_1945

3/12/25

Music Postdocs in Uganda

We are very happy to announce that James Isabirye (Kyambogo University) and Milton Wabyona (Makerere University) are being awarded postdoctoral fellowships, funded by the Norwegian government, through the CABUTE project.

It will be a pleasure to offer some mentoring as these accomplished scholars proceed toward completion of their research on music teaching and learning in Uganda.

Their proposed studies promise to bring new insights to the field of music education, with both local and international applications.

New PhD-Level Courses 2025

It is a pleasure to announce some PhD-level courses that will be offered in online format in 2025.

Doctoral students and postdoctoral junior faculty members (e.g. Assistant Professors, Lecturers, etc.) affiliated with any university are welcome to participate in these two courses:

RESEARCH METHODS IN HIGHER EDUCATION (20 May – 3 June)

https://www.hvl.no/en/studies-at-hvl/study-programmes/research-methods-in-higher-education-sotl-module/

RESEARCH SUPERVISION IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT (21 May – 4 June)

https://www.hvl.no/en/studies-at-hvl/study-programmes/research-supervision-in-an-international-context-module/

Doctoral students affiliated with any university can participate in this course as well (and in special cases, it may also be open to advanced Master students):

NON-WESTERN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AND POLICY (3-13 November)

https://www.hvl.no/en/studies-at-hvl/study-programmes/courses/2025/phd911/

We also look forward to the upcoming PhD course Creative Innovations in Higher Education at Bergen Summer Research School: https://www.uib.no/en/rs/bsrs/173600/creative-innovations-higher-education

3/2/25

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

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), Visiting Professor with UCSI University (Malaysia), and Honorary Professor 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:23), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).