Nichibunken Residency

It is exciting to have the opportunity this summer to be a Visiting Research Scholar at Nichibunken, the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, in Kyoto, Japan. Nichibunken is a division of Japan’s National Institutes for the Humanities, and is a uniquely important resource for foreign researchers who specialize in studies of Japanese culture. The image linked here (which I found on the internet) is from the Nichibunken library, a state-of-the art facility that offers large collections and databases as well as access to content from rare historical documents. At Nichibunken, I will be broadening the scope of my research on wind music in Japan to include study of conductors, the musical instrument industry, government policies, and noteworthy ensembles. I think this research will have implications for musicians, educators, and scholars in other nations because in recent generations Japan has become globally influential in many areas of music. I look forward to interacting with the outstanding scholars at Nichibunken, and to publishing the findings from this new research.

Here is a link to my Research Agenda, which indicates recent and forthcoming publications, as well as some current/ongoing projects.

Music Education and Multiculturalism

The Finnish Journal of Music Education (FJME) invites proposals for a themed issue: Music Education and Multiculturalism

Guest Editors:

Associate Professor Sidsel Karlsen and Professor David Hebert

[2012 UPDATE: This issue has been published and is available online:

Finnish Journal of Music Education, Vol.13, No.1].

The purpose of this issue is to offer readers insights into the challenges and opportunities that music educators meet as a consequence of living and working in societies that are becoming increasingly multicultural. Contributions may particularly examine such issues from the perspective of music learners. Articles dealing with music education and multiculturalism in Finnish or Scandinavian perspectives are of particular interest.

We welcome articles representing a variety of approaches and disciplines. Submissions for the publication are requested to be sent to Sidsel Karlsen (sidsel.karlsen@siba.fi) by October 1, 2009.

The Editorial Board will consider manuscripts written in the following languages: Finnish, English and Swedish. Articles written in a language other than English must include an English summary of maximum length 200 words. The articles are reviewed by an expert panel. For further instructions, please read the guidelines for contributors (below).

Heidi Westerlund, Professor, Managing Editor

…………………………

Instructions to Contributors

Manuscripts

The Finnish Journal of Music Education publishes articles and reviews on the research and practice of music education. The Editorial Board will consider manuscripts written in the following languages: Finnish, English or Swedish. Articles written in a language other than English must include an English summary of maximum length 200 words. The ethical code of FJME does not allow consideration of any articles already published or submitted for publication in other journals or books. Publishing decisions on manuscripts are made by the Editorial Board of FJME. The articles are blind-reviewed by researchers that have expertise of the topic. Please submit your text to the editor(s) by e-mail as an attachment (rtf). Further information about submitting contributions is available from the Managing Editor.

Contact information

Postal addresses, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of the contributors should be enclosed.

Other remarks

The author of an article or review published in FJME will receive two copies of the issue.

Studio Session

After several years of focusing mostly on academic matters, I am excited to be finally getting back into the studio to record around 10 original songs at the end of this month (guitar and voice). My songwriting in recent years is mostly jazz and Latin-influenced, but some of the tunes are probably best categorized as alternative rock. Below are lyrics from a few of my recent songs:



David G. Hebert © 2007

Tonight I’m Wondering

Sands across a desert plain
Shifting rhymes and reasons
Form a work sublime
Sculpture to the stars

Bodies cross a bustling street
Throngs of nameless workers
Feed the greed machine
Such aimless ways are ours

But she says tonight I’m wondering
This life’s a curious thing
He says tonight I’m wandering
This life, what will it bring

Doctors cross a perfect clone
Shifting rhymes and reasons
Form a work sublime
Sculpture to the stars

Bankers cross a corporate trust
Throngs of nameless workers
Feed the greed machine
Such aimless ways are ours (chorus)



David G. Hebert © 2009

Things Aren't as Simple as they Seem

Something in the air
Euphoria releasing everywhere
From where it comes I cannot say
Nor when it goes, but you must know
Things aren’t as simple as they seem

With a smile her eyes
Entrancing perceptions paralyze
To cross into a longed for world
How dare I go again, it shows
Things aren’t as simple as they seem

With these passing years
One learns to embrace forgetting
I’m none the wiser, still a fool
And how about you, again it shows
Things aren’t as simple as they seem

But I guess it’s okay
Nobody gets all they want anyway
Oh well, that’s life
And who am I to complain
I try to fix the things I can anyway
Oh well, that’s life
Things aren’t as simple as they seem




David G. Hebert © 2008

I Wonder Where You've Gone

Letters glow beyond the screen
Messages we shared
I know more now what they mean
Why they withered there
Why you vanished silently
Thinking we're not meant to be

I wonder where you've gone
And I wonder what you're doing right now
I wonder where you've gone
And I wonder what you're doing now, and how
How this world's treating you

I still have some things of yours
Lost inside a drawer
Lost this mind still sings of you
Knows you needed more
Why you vanished silently
Thinking we're not meant to be
(chorus)




David G. Hebert © 2007

What This War’s Waging For

One right nation, fair and free
Lies to yourself
And you don’t want to know the truth
Just free trade and manifest destiny
These lies to yourself
And you ought to know the truth

Legions of young men bleed from both sides
They say one side is righter
I don’t know which that would be
Thousands of used youths, what could be won
Dying for some thing
I don’t know what it could be
I can’t see what this war’s waging for
I can’t see what this war’s waging for
Why . . . why

One fine president, father’s son
Lies to yourself
And you don’t want to know the truth
Trillions well spent keeping peace
These lies to yourself
And you ought to know the truth




David G. Hebert © 2008

To Lose You

Don't you see, it's killing me to lose you
Don't you see, it's killing me to lose you
I know things are an awful mess
Believe me, I will try my best
Don't you see, it's killing me to lose you

David G. Hebert © 2008

When the Clique is Out to Get You

What a day, I’m sick of this mess
Will the problems never end
Rumors sting like the hornet’s nest
And I thought these were my friends

What is there to say
When they think the worst of you now
What is there to do
When the clique is out to get you

Ooh, hooray, what games they will play
Manipulation charades
Escapades with deceptive ends
And I thought these were my friends

What is there to say
When they think the worst of you now
What is there to do
When the clique is out to get you

David G. Hebert © 2009

Everything is Going to Be Alright

What if I could ease your mind
Clear away anxieties, for you here
What if I could lift your eyes
After all, there are changes beyond the sunrise

Everything is going to be alright, take it from me
No, no, no
I don't think it's hopeless yet
No, no, no
You've got to hang in there and stick with it
Everything is going to be alright

What if all our work is wrong
And all we own is worthless (it might be)
What if you misplace your fears
Freed without them to make in a day what took years

Everything is going to be alright, take it from me
No, no, no
I don't think it's hopeless yet
No, no, no
You've got to hang in there and stick with it
Everything is going to be alright

David G. Hebert © 2008

True Blue

Light unveils vast seas
Lone the wave brushed shores
Buoyant space, refreshed place

Knows it shows one truth
It’s real more than you

True blue
True blue

[Guitar and vocal tracks for each of the above songs were recorded on May 27th and then mixed on the 28th in the Sibelius Academy recording studios.]

Jazz Violin Improvisation

Finnish jazz violinist Ari Poutiainen will soon defend his doctoral dissertation at Sibelius Academy, with a formal ceremony scheduled for June 8, 2009. Ari’s unique study provides new insights into the technique of violin playing in modern jazz styles.

UPDATE 1 (December, 2009):

Click HERE to access a PDF file of a review of Dr. Poutiainen’s doctoral publication from the 2010 issue of the Strings journal.

UPDATE 2 (May, 2010):

Dr. Poutiainen's doctoral publication has also received very positive reviews in both the prestigious international journal The Strad, as well as in Fiddler magazine.

Click HERE to access a PDF file of a review of Dr. Poutiainen’s doctoral publication from a 2010 issue of Fiddler magazine.

Wind Bands in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Upcoming Event:

Wind Bands in Cross-Cultural Perspective

(Symposium funded by the QUB Internationalization Fund)

11 & 12 June, 2009

Queen’s University Belfast

School of History and Anthropology

Click HERE for a programme of this unique symposium coming soon to the United Kingdom, hosted by anthropologist Suzel Reily.

Click on Bands Around the World, and then scroll down for further information related to this topic.

Music Conferences in March and April 2009

It has been a great pleasure to give presentations at five very interesting international conferences and symposia on music in Europe during March and April. Details are listed below. In May I will stay in Finland to focus on advising students and completing various writing projects.

-Paper presentation, "On Virtuality and Music Education in Online Environments," The Changing Face of Music Education: Music and Environment (CFME09) International Conference, Tallinn University, Estonia (April 23-25, 2009). [It was a pleasure to finally meet John Sloboda, Nigel Marshall, Armin Langer, Mariann Abraham, and many others. Estonian scholars Tina Selke, Gerhard Lock and their colleagues were fabulous hosts at Tallinn University.]

-Paper presentation, "Institutionalizing Popular Music Pedagogy: Lessons from Jazz Education," Sixth International Research in Music Education (RIME) Conference, University of Exeter, United Kingdom (April 14-18, 2009). [It was very nice to see my new friends from Sweden again, and also to talk with Steve Dillon, Pamela Burnard, Albert Ibanez, Liane Hentschke, Nantida Chandransu, as well as fellow Americans Marie McCarthy, Randall Allsup, Patrick Schmidt and Cathy Benedict, and all the way from Oceania, Trevor Thwaites and Kathy Marsh. Sarah Hennessy has done an amazing job with this conference over the years! It was nice to hear many good comments about the work of Sibelius Academy students.] It was also great to meet Andrew Missingham afterward in London, and we are discussing collaboration on some research and development projects in global music technology.

-Lecture on "New Music Technologies in Japan and the USA," and Workshop with Alex Ruthmann (by videoconference) on "New Technologies for Music Teaching and Learning," Nordic Network for Music Informatics, Performance and Aesthetics (Nordplus-funded), University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark (March 29-April 5, 2009). [I recall that Anders Friberg and Kristoffer Jensen gave some especially informative presentations at this event.]

-Paper presentation with Marja Heimonen, "Pluralism and Minority Rights in Music Education: Implications of the Legal and Social Philosophical Dimension," Beyond Musicology - 13th Annual Finnish Musicology Symposium, University of Turku, Finland (March 26-27, 2009). [It was very interesting to talk with Tia DeNora and Richard Leppert for the first time - outstanding broad-minded scholars and genuinely nice people.]

-Presentation, "Tools for Collaboration in Online Music Communities," GLOMUS, coalition of Nordic higher education academies, steering committee meeting at Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway (March 3-4, 2009). [Founded by four Nordic higher education academies of music - Royal Danish Conservatory-Aarjus, Norwegian Academy of Music, Malmo Academy of Music, and Sibelius Academy - GLOMUS is an international network for exchange in global music and related arts.]

There is also some good news at Sibelius Academy: our Rector Gustav Djupsjobacka has been reappointed for another term of leadership, and our Dean Jari Perkiomaki is now being promoted to Vice Rector. It is likely this will lead to many positive changes in the next few years.

Also, I am excited that Alex Ruthmann and I have been asked to write a chapter on music technology for the Oxford Handbook of Music Education, a uniquely comprehensive resource that I believe will be published in late 2010.

Music in an Uncertain Global Economy

Here are two important news stories of relevance to the future of music in the global economy:

(1) According to a very recent report, Google (in partnership with Warner, Sony, Universal, EMI, and others) has just launched a new music service in China that may help open an enormous music market that has until now consisted of 99% pirated copies and illegal file sharing. In theory, this could be a very positive development for professional musicians, but will it be so?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/technology/companies/06music.html

(2) A BBC World Service survey of 29,000 people has found “broad support for reform of the international economic system ahead of the G20 summit.” According to the article, “More than 70% of people in 29 countries think major changes are needed in the way the global economy is run.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7970625.stm

Despite such survey results, there is also strong evidence that many place little faith in the G20:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE5354K320090406

Also, here is a link to the 2009 digital music report of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which offers an industry perspective on recent changes in music production and consumption:

http://www.ifpi.org/