Master of Global Music Deadline

The 2010 application deadline for the Master of Global Music (GLOMAS) program is nearly here.

This joint study program offers the unusual opportunity to study for a Master degree in the field of world music at institutions in three different European nations. The program also provides opportunities to learn about the contemporary music industry and to conduct field work studies in Africa and the Middle East through the Glomus Network for higher music education.

Please see the following website for further information:

http://glomas.net/

Master Class & Music Gesture Research in Oslo

For the past few days I have been in Oslo, Norway, collaborating with colleagues from NNIMIPA (Nordic Network for the Integration of Music Informatics, Performance and Aesthetics) on a research project at the University of Oslo. Our project is using a combination of state of the art motion capture (infrared) video analysis technologies and qualitative methods to examine musical gestures as well as interactions in the context of a master class event.

Here is a link to the NNIMIPA website, which offers more information regarding this group and its activities:

http://nnimipa.org

Music of the Baltic

Today the Helsinki harbor is frozen over, and here is a photo I took of it just this morning. I heard that the Baltic Sea is frozen across even to Estonia nowadays, which is hard to imagine. Around 100 million people currently live in the Baltic Sea area, which has been an important region of cultural exchange for centuries.

Here are links for more information about the Baltic Sea region:

http://www.baltic.com/default_start.asp

http://www.euroregionbaltic.eu/

Here is a link to the Baltic Association of Music Academies, which has been active since 1995 in the promotion of musical exchange among music schools in this region: http://www.abambaltic.net/

Here is a link to an announcement for the upcoming Baltic Musicology Conference, which has as a theme “The Baltic Sea Region in the 21st Century”:

http://www.iamic.net/international-news/42nd-baltic-musicology-conference

Avatar Music

Still at No.1 for the sixth-straight weekend, Avatar is poised to become the most profitable movie of all time. Below is its trailer.

Avatar is an interesting film for ethnomusicologists and music technology specialists in that its soundtrack makes use of music from many parts of the world (with an ethnomusicologist consultant even on the production staff), and it utilizes the latest sound effects using 3D and surround sound technology.

The film also demonstrates the possibilities that have been opened by the use of avatars in virtual environments, and the storyline is very much concerned with various ethical issues commonly encountered in qualitative research studies, including the themes of (1) empathy toward unfamiliar worldviews, (2) post-coloniality, (3) reverse culture-shock, (4) corporate/military finance of research, and (5) the complex pursuit of understanding a foreign culture through fieldwork.

The film also demonstrates that New Zealand has continued its rise to become a globally-significant center of performing arts and feature film production, as discussed in this link:

http://www.drama.org.nz/?cat=48

Another related link:

http://www.voxy.co.nz/entertainment/avatar-delivers-307m-new-zealand-economy/5/36156

2010: A New Year

2009 is ending, and it was quite an interesting year. I spent much of it working as a Professor of Music at a very innovative graduate institution, the Sibelius Academy in Finland. I also had a summer research residency in Japan (National Institutes for the Humanities-Nichibunken, Kyoto), and traveled briefly for various music lectures and other professional activities in ten countries, mostly in Europe.

A major highlight of the year was the opportunity to mentor five outstanding students to completion of their doctoral degrees: Ari Poutiainen (jazz studies), Arnold Chiwalala (folk music), and Tapani Heikinheimo (music education) at the Sibelius Academy in Europe, as well as both Nancy Rosenberg (music education) and Robert Allen (music education) at Boston University in the USA, where I continued some earlier work by serving as an adjunct Master Lecturer.

I continued to be quite active in scholarship, with publication of chapters in four books (Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education [vol. 2 and 3], De-Canonizing Music History, and Music Education for Changing Times: Guiding Visions for Practice), as well as refereed articles in the journals Parlando (in Hungarian) and Visions of Research in Music Education. However, publication of my own books was postponed to 2010.

Another highlight of the year was contributing to the finalization of plans for the new Master of Global Music (GLOMAS) program in Northern Europe, and its official launch at the Womex festival in Copenhagen. This innovative degree will soon be offered in collaboration between institutions in Finland, Denmark, and Sweden, and promises to increase musical interactions between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

It was very enjoyable to attend the Society for Ethnomusicology international conference in Mexico City, where I was elected chair of its Historical Ethnomusicology special interest group. I expect this group to accomplish some great things over the next few years. I have also been participating in the Nordic Network for Integration of Music Informatics, Performance and Aesthetics (NNIMIPA), and have been appointed to the editorial board of its Journal of Music and Meaning, and asked to coordinate this group’s collectively authored research statement for publication.

It was also quite interesting to participate in the Orally Transmitted Music and Intercultural Education, symposium offered by EU Culture Initiative Music, Orality, Roots, Europe (MORE) at Cité de la Musique, Paris, France, and I look forward to more of its activities in the near future, including a conference to be hosted by Sibelius Academy.

On a more personal note, a major highlight of 2009 for me was my grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary, in Seattle in late December.

What are the plans for 2010? . . .

This year I must focus on publishing two books that have been delayed for much too long: Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools: An Ethnography and Social History, and Patriotism and Nationalism in Music Education. I will also publish two more book chapters, in Sociology and Music Education (now in press), and the Oxford Handbook of Music Education (first draft now in review).

The new GLOMAS program will admit its first cohort of graduate students, and I am committed to seeing this program carefully planned and successfully implemented. I am currently chairing the curriculum development committee for this degree at Sibelius Academy, and coordinating the admissions review process between this institution and partner institutions in Sweden and Denmark. Additionally, I expect to see at least three more doctoral students complete their degrees this academic year.

There are several interesting new developments with the Historical Ethnomusicology group, and both the NNIMIPA and MORE projects in Europe. I am also looking forward to singing bass for the Finnish choir Kampin Laulu's tour of Hungary, and to participating in the NORDTRAD folk music conference in Latvia.

[I took the above photo of an impressive church tower in Copenhagen in early 2009, when I was a visiting lecturer at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory.]

Declining Popularity of Music Videogames

According to a Dec. 21 2009 article in the Tech Herald (entitled 2009 is last hurrah for ailing music-rhythm videogames, by Stevie Smith), “music-based videogames pulled in $1.4 billion USD in revenue during the course of 2008, but will be lucky to have amassed $700 million USD by the time 2009 draws to a close.”

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200952/4982/2009-is-last-hurrah-for-ailing-music-rhythm-videogames

This recent development seems to offer some new opportunities to rethink the educational possibilities of music video games. Major video game manufacturers have yet to develop a game that is fully endorsed by leading music education researchers for effectively facilitating enjoyable music learning. Surely, in time, video games will be produced in collaboration with educational experts that will lead to desirable learning outcomes and become widely used across educational systems, but to envision this will require unprecedented forms of collaboration between higher education and industry, which are sectors that have often failed to nurture mutual respect due to differing values. In fact, much may be gained from such collaborations, if developed with care.

[I took the above photo in Kyoto at the original headquarters of Nintendo, an innovative company that has evolved from production of playing cards to video games]

Joulu Choral Concert

Tonight is the final Joulu performance of Helsinki chamber choir Kampin Laulu. The festive concert is 7pm at Kellokosken Kirkko, in the greater Helsinki area.

A variety of choral pieces will be performed, ranging from traditional English madrigals to Finnish Christmas carols.

I sing the lowest bass parts with the choir.

Here is a link to the Kampin Laulu website:

http://www.kampinlaulu.fi/