A collective keynote at ISME World Conference by Uniarts Helsinki researchers will revolutionize the traditional academic presentation format

17.6.2024 3 Like 0 kommenttia

The keynote will feature a dynamic blend of spoken word, text, exclusively produced animated videos, music, and sound installations.

University Researchers Tuulikki Laes and Guadalupe López-Íñiguez, and Professor Heidi Westerlund, all from the MuTri Doctoral School at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, have been bestowed with the honor of delivering a collective keynote at the prestigious 36th World Conference for the International Society for Music Education (ISME). Their keynote, titled “Beyond Advocacy: Engaging with the Political in Music Education,” is a significant event in the conference program and will take place on Tuesday, July 30th, at 9 a.m., in the esteemed Helsinki Music Centre Concert Hall (Musiikkitalo Concert Hall).

Their collective keynote is a joint effort to highlight the collaborative, internationally recognized work the music education research community has built at the Sibelius Academy during the last two decades. The keynote also brings to the forefront the synergy between the keynote team’s research projects, generously funded by the Research Council of Finland. We asked Tuulikki, Guadalupe, and Heidi about what they are preparing for the keynote and what the audience can expect.

Can you tell us a bit about the role of the “political” in your keynote?

In this collective keynote, we argue that music education can be a transformative power in facing today’s complex and wicked problems. The political aspect of music education reaches beyond the questions of personal opinions or advocacy toward taking societal engagement seriously in institutions and individual practices. We approach this engagement through our ongoing research projects that explore 1) eco-politics in higher music education, 2) musically gifted children’s (un)caring ecosystems, and 3) gender politics in music heritage. We have also collected insights from several Uniarts Helsinki’s teachers, researchers, a performing musician, and an activist in Finland and Nepal to be shared with the ISME conference participants.

What can we expect from your keynote?

The keynote is set to revolutionize the traditional academic presentation format. It will feature a dynamic blend of spoken word, text, exclusively produced animated videos, music, and sound installations. The collaborative multimedia approachwith Sibelius Academy’s music technology lecturer  Alejandro Olarte, graphic artists, and camera professionals, aims to captivate and challenge the audience. The keynote’s multiple presenters and performers on stage and in video will create a polyphonic canvas, aiming to disrupt the notion of political neutrality in music education. We invite every participant of the world conference to attend our keynote to be inspired, challenged – and surprised, and to continue the discussion in the future.

Read more about the research projects related to the keynote:

• Performing the Political: Public Pedagogy in Higher Music Education 
• Music Education, Professionalism, and Eco-Politics
• The Politics of Care in the Professional Education of Children Gifted for Music 
• Transition Pathways Towards Gender Inclusion in the Changing Musical Landscapes of Nepal