I look forward to an upcoming weekend trip in May to Xiamen, China, where I am an Invited Speaker for what promises to be a landmark event in the history of Chinese music scholarship. This conference celebrates the publication of a unique 18-volume encyclopedia in Chinese language on the history of ideas in Chinese music disciplines, edited by my long-time collaborator Professor Jiaxing Xie of China Conservatory. The encyclopedia comes with an array of digital resources and is likely to be quite impactful for many years.  Xie and I have given several presentations together at int ..read more

I look forward to hosting the next Online Cafe of the International Society for Music Education. As Chair of ISME's History Standing Committee, I was invited to develop this event, and then asked one of the HSC's most active members Craig Resta to serve as co-host.  I am hopeful this event will generate more interest in how we can better understand issues and practices in institutions through a historical perspective. Below are details:   Next ISME Online Cafe:  How History Matters in Music Education: Opportunities and Methods   Hosts: David G. Hebert and Craig ..read more

  Recently I returned to Bergen, Norway after participating in the 20-year jubilee event of the Musica Practica Musica Theoretica series at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland. At this international symposium, it was exciting to see some recent developments in music scholarship coming from Poland and nearby countries. This series of annual events has been organized and hosted by  Mikolaj Rykowski and colleagues at the academy across recent years and was founded by his mentor at the academy.  Poznan is a lovely place (central square pictured here), and as Mik ..read more

  This month I have been visiting Hong Kong as Honorary Professor with the Education University of Hong Kong. This visit was made possible through the Global Competence Partnership project, and my main objective is to plan further exchange between our institutions, especially at the doctoral and postgraduate levels.  Here I have especially been collaborating with Koji Matsunobu, who now  leads the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts at EdUHK, and I have participated in his postdoctoral research group meeting (with Lexuan Zhang, Luna Ning Luo and Robbie Ming Hon Ho) and th ..read more

I am happy to report that Volume IV is now being printed, the latest monograph in the Lexington Series in Historical Ethnomusicology: Deep Soundings.  It is a pleasure to edit this book series, which provides new insights into global music heritage.  Below is our list of recent titles and forthcoming (contracted) books:   Vol. I (2021), by Ambigay Raidoo Yudkoff, PhD: Activism through Music during the Apartheid Era and Beyond: When Voices Meet   Vol. II (2022), by David G. Hebert, PhD and Jonathan McCollum, PhD (editors): Ethnomusicology and Cultural Diplomacy   Vol ..read more

The GAME research group will soon be completing its application for funding to extend the Music Talks project as Music Talks II, which will build further on our previous methods but emphasize the design and application of new digital tools. We are thankful for the EU's Erasmus Plus funding and hopeful the project will continue. Music Talks produces evidence-based methods for using music to promote civic engagement among European youth, and is based on a collaboration between Nordic, Baltic, and Balkan organizations in multiple sectors: a university, community schools, and youth-oriented NGO ..read more

          It is exciting to be participating in the 40-Year Jubilee Symposium of the Folk Music Department at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.     I used to work as a Professor there about 15 years ago and helped to establish its Master of Global Music program. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to return and see the current situation, as well as to meet other singing researchers as part of the Singing Maps project managed by my colleague David Johnson.   The symposium will be live-streamed on the University of the Arts YouTube ..read more

It is exciting to now be completing an application for the EU’s Horizon Europe large research grant program. These applications are massive, requiring hundreds of man-hours to develop. For this application, we lead a consortium of 10 partners from 8 countries, seeking over 3 million euros, so every detail must be carefully considered. There is likely to be stiff competition, but we seem to have outstanding competence in our team, with a great concept, design, and methodology for a project that promises to have a significant positive impact.   Our Project Board includes the following peo ..read more

The application deadline has been extended for Bergen Summer Research School, and PhD students from around the world are encouraged to apply. Generous scholarships are available especially to support qualified students from the Global South so they can participate in Bergen, Norway this summer. An exciting set of interdisciplinary courses is available. Click HERE for more information. Application deadline: 15 February 2024.  ..read more

It was a great pleasure to participate this week as the only non-Chinese invited guest in a major academic event at China’s leading faculty of education, Beijing Normal University, as featured on national CCTV. This was the 2024 symposium on “Global Perspectives Toward Talent Development in Music Education,” and included the prominent Chinese researchers in the field of music education: Jiaxing Xie (China Conservatory), Bo-wah Leung (Education University of Hong Kong), Aiqing Yin (Northeast Normal University), Honglai Liang (Capital Normal University) and the host, Lu Zhang (Beijing Normal ..read more