Grieg Academy Music Education research group (GAME)

Dr. Heather Paudler Arghandeh (post.doc. at Campus Sogndal, WNUAS)

Dr. Thanh Thuy Nguyen (post doc, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)

Prof. Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir (prof.II WNUAS, University of Iceland)

Katarzyna Julia Leikvoll (University of Bergen)

Steinar Sætre (University of Bergen)

Tom Eide Osa (University of Bergen)

Marianne Løkke Jakobsen (The Royal Danish Academy of Music)  

Koji Matsunobu (Associate Professor, Education University of Hong Kong).

Jonathan McCollum (Washington College, USA).

Knut Eysturstein (PhD student and lecturer, University of the Faroe Islands).

Miwa Chiba (postdoctoral researcher, University of Luxembourg).

Erisa Walubo (PhD student, Makerere University, Uganda).

Roger Mponda (postgraduate student, Kyambogo University, Uganda).

Lydia Basemera (postgraduate student, Kyambogo University, Uganda).

Rigmor Titt (retired Lecturer, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences). 

Professional Leadership and Service:  

• David G. Hebert has recently been re-elected to the Board of the International Society for Music Education. With a history of more than 70 years, ISME is affiliated with UNESCO and has thousands of members in over 80 countries. This is his second 2-year term on the ISME Board, and this year he was also appointed to its small Executive Committee, in which he frequently collaborates with the organization's President and CEO. 
  
  
• David T. Johnson recently co-led meetings of the ISME Decolonizing and Indigenizing Music Education (DIME) special interest group at the 2024 World Conference of the International Society for Music Education in Helsinki, Finland.
  
  
• David G. Hebert recently served as external examiner (opponent) for the doctoral dissertation defense of Qi Lin at the Education University of Hong Kong.
  
  
• The Nordic Network for Music Education (NNME), led by David G. Hebert, has received mobility funding from the Nordplus programme of the Nordic Council of Ministers for 2024-2025.
  
  
• David G. Hebert travels to Groningen, Netherlands in November to serve as Respondent for the Prøvedisputas of PhD candidate Elizabeth Oltedal at the Music4Change event of Grieg Research School.
  
  
• Through the Global Competence Partnership project, a set of original video resources has been developed along with online course units for new PhD-level and faculty development courses to be offered university-wide through a “blended learning” approach. These courses are starting to be offered at HVL and its partner, Education University of Hong Kong: Research Methods in Higher Education; Research Supervision (Doctoral, Postdoctoral, and Research Groups); Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Methods in University Pedagogy; Assessment and Evaluation; etc. GAME members collaborated with others at HVL to develop these new courses and course resources.

Research Publications (Books):

• David T. Johnson recently published a book as co-editor: Decolonizing and Indigenising Music Education: First Peoples Leading Research and Practice (Routledge, 2024).
  
  
• David G. Hebert in September 2024 submitted his eleventh book to press since accepting the job at HiB/HVL in Bergen. This latest book is an edited volume, co-edited with Chee Hoo Lum (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), called Perspectives on Music, Education, and Diversity (Springer, 2024, in press). The book includes Hebert’s chapter “Doctoral Supervision (in Music): What the Research Shows” as well as introductory and concluding chapters co-authored with Dr. Lum, who has participated in meetings of GAME research group and NNME.

• David G. Hebert’s monograph that is co-authored with Professor Jiaxing Xie (China Conservatory) is nearing completion to be submitted in 2024 for publication in 2025, A Philosophy of Music Education for the Era of AI: Dialogue Between Chinese and Western Perspectives (Routledge, forthcoming).
  
  
• The book series for which David G. Hebert serves as co-Editor, Deep Soundings: Lexington Series in Historical Ethnomusicology has been purchased by Bloomington Press, and has just published its fourth volume, which is authored by Mikolaj Rykowski, a frequent visitor to GAME research group who works as vice rector at the Paderewsky Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland. The book is called Music Glocalization and the Composer (Lexington, 2024).

Research Publications (Book Chapters):

• Odd Torleiv Furness recently published a chapter, “The Musical Object in Deep Learning”, in the book Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education (Open Book Publishers, 2024). This chapter in English extends further on ideas presented in his Norwegian monograph Dybdelæring i musikk - musikalsk forståelse gjennom sansning, følelser og begreper (Universitetsforlaget, 2022). Additionally, one of the co-editors of this book is a former Professor II (visiting professor) with GAME research group, Prof. Stefan Ostersjo.
  
  
• Odd Torleiv Furness has in 2024 authored seven entries for the encylopedia Store norske leksikon.
  
  
• A chapter co-authored by David G. Hebert and David T. Johnson called “Global Music Communities and Civic Engagement in the Digital Age” that is connected to the Music Talks (EU Erasmus Plus) project is now being published in the book Promoting Civic Engagement Through Art Education: A Call to Action for Creative Educators (Routledge, 2024). 

Research Publications (Journal Articles):

• David T. Johnson is co-author of an article to be published soon in an issue of the British Journal of Music Education: “Making space for singing in the 21st century classroom – A focus group interview study with primary school music teachers in Sweden.”
  
  
• GAME member Marianne Løkke Jakobsen is co-author with David G. Hebert and Rikke Ørngreen of an article to be published soon in an issue of the International Journal of Music Education: “Synchronous online instrumental music teaching in cross-cultural learning contexts.”
  
  
• David G. Hebert is co-author of an article (along with four scholars from one of his PhD courses: Lu Liu, Sergio Garcia-Cuesta, Laura Chambers, and Sergej Tchirkov) called “Rethinking ‘Musical Excellence’ from a Decolonial Perspective: Disruptive Autobiographical Experiences among Doctoral Scholars,” which was recently accepted for publication in the International Journal of Music Education.
  
  
• GAME member and HVL PhD student Kristian Tverli Iversen is co-author with David G. Hebert of an article to be published soon in an issue of the British Journal of Music Education (Cambridge University Press): “Laptop computer as instrument in music performance lessons: Issues and opportunities.”
  
  
• Odd Torleiv Furness recently authored a general interest article on AI and music for the online media publication ballade.no.
  
  

Multiple Journal Articles Under Review:

Several GAME members have submitted additional articles to major research journals (e.g. on Routledge, Sage, and Cambridge University Press) and await the outcomes of editorial reviews:

• Marianne Løkke Jakobsen and David G. Hebert
• Miwa Chiba and David G. Hebert
• Koji Matsunobu and David G. Hebert
• Yaping Chen and David G. Hebert
  
  

PhD Student Updates:

Kristian Iversen has been accepted as a PhD student with GAME at HVL-Bergen, with a dissertation on AI and music education.

Erisa Walubo is currently in residence with GAME at HVL-Bergen, through the CABUTE project. His dissertation, at Makerere University with David G. Hebert as co-supervisor, is on the transmission of indigenous music and dance traditions in Uganda. He will also be receiving some supervision from David T. Johnson in the field of Indigenous music education.

Marianne Jakobsen (Director of Global Engagement, Royal Danish Academy of Music) continues to closely collaborate with GAME for her doctoral dissertation via Aalborg University, Denmark, with David G. Hebert as a co-supervisor. Marianne and Hebert already have two co-authored publications and a third now in review.

Knut Eysturstein is progressing on his PhD through University of the Faroe Islands with David G. Hebert as his main supervisor. His dissertation is on traditional music, national identity, and Faroese schools.

Bruno Masia has been accepted as a PhD student at University Bergen. Although his primary work is in artistic development at UiB, he also collaborates with GAME for academic aspects of his research on silence as a concept in improvised and experimental music.

Ongoing Funded Projects (2024-2025):

Global Competence Partnership project (funded by Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills)

CABUTE project (funded by Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation)

Nordic Network for Music Education (funded by Nordplus, Nordic Council of Ministers)

Barents Outreach Tour of Sympathetic Resonance Trio (funded by Norwegian Barents Secretariat)

RESUPERES resilience in higher education project (funded by EU Erasmus Plus)

Visitors to GAME research group (2024-2025):

Prof. Jiaxing Xie (China Conservatory), August 2024

Prof. Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir (University of Iceland), September 2024

Dr. Koji Matsunobu (Education University of Hong Kong), December 2024

Dr. Lexuan Zhang (Education University of Hong Kong), December 2024

Dr. Philbert Li (Education University of Hong Kong), December 2024

Dr. Karan Choudhary (PhD, National Law University, New Delhi), February 2025

Large Grant Applications:

• A Horizon Europe application from GAME research group (for 3 million euros from the EU) was ranked 4 out of 52 and placed on a waiting list. We continue to await a final verdict as of September 2024.
  
  
• A Norwegian Research Council application from GAME research group, led by David T. Johnson, is still under evaluation as of September 2024.

• Two highly accomplished international researchers have applied for postdoctoral grants from the EU’s MSCA postdoc program to work with GAME research group (2025-2027), for which we await results: dynamic Indian judge and music law scholar Dr. Karan Choudhary and prolific Zimbabwean ethnomusicologist Dr. Solomon Gwerevende.
  
  
• Multiple accomplished Ugandan music scholars are applying for postdoctoral grants to work with GAME through the CABUTE project and we are optimistic they will receive funding for research collaboration in 2025-2026.

Major Dissemination Activities:

Multiple GAME members gave research presentations at the 2024 World Conference of the International Society for Music Education in Helsinki, Finland. This included the following individuals:

• Marianne Løkke Jakobsen
• Knut Eysturstein
• David T. Johnson
• David G. Hebert
• Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir (former Professor II, GAME)
• Koji Matsunobu (co-leader of GCP project)
• Le-xuan Zhang (partner through GCP project)
• Jiaxing Xie (co-author and frequent visitor to GAME)

GAME’s proposal on music education and cultural diplomacy has been accepted for presentation at the upcoming Nordic Educational Research Association 2022 meeting.

Heather Arghandeh Paudler, David Johnson, and David Hebert are now preparing to host a planning meeting in Bergen in May for the Music Talks project (EU Erasmus Plus), with partners from Latvia and North Macedonia. 

For the Norad-funded CABUTE project, the Music subject group was established with its first meeting in March, led by David Hebert and Nicholas Ssempijja (Makerere University, Uganda). 

GAME has redeveloped its application for resubmission to Utforsk to support HVL collaboration with Education University of Hong Kong at the PhD level.

Springer press has just offered a contract for the edited volume Comparative and Decolonial Studies in Philosophy of Education (Ed., David Hebert), which will be submitted to the press in summer 2022. The book includes GAME’s partners in Hong Kong (e.g. Koji Matsunobu and his recent and former PhD students), as well as students from the two cohorts of HVL’s PhD911 course.  

Professor II Stefan Ostersjo will visit Bergen in mid-April for collaborations with GAME and Kairos research groups.

GAME leader David Hebert has three activities scheduled in Lithuania: a keynote speech in April and two doctoral defenses in June.

Professor II Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir has appeared in Icelandic media for her work with GAME, and is currently strategizing development of grant support for the research group.

Professor Masafumi Ogawa, one of Japan’s most prolific music education researchers (with many PhD students), is traveling from Yokohama National University to the visit GAME research group during the first days of March 2022. GAME members Julia Leikvoll and Heather Arghandeh Paudler have – along with David Hebert – developed a chapter on music education in Norway for Ogawa’s forthcoming book.

A beautiful documentary video “Geysers and Guitars” has been produced by Italian film-maker Ferruccio Goia with the HVL Media Lab. It shows the impact of Nordic Network for Music Education international music master courses, which are administered as an internationalization project through GAME.

David Hebert has been invited to publish a book chapter based on his keynote speech in January for the German-Dutch Colloquium on Arts Education. He has also submitted an entry on Norway for the international encyclopedia of wind music to be published through the IGEB international band research organization.

GAME members David Hebert and David Johnson will visit Riga, Latvia in February for the first face-to-face meeting of the EU-funded Music Talks project. The project now moves from the R&D phase to the piloting of new methods for community youth music activities.

GAME members Stefan Östersjö, Thanh Thuy Nguyen, and David Hebert are now completing and submitting their monograph along with Henrik Frisk, titled Shared Listenings: Methods for Transcultural Musicianship and Research (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). It contains new insights relevant for performing artists, researchers, and teachers on how musicians from vastly different cultures can effectively collaborate.

GAME members are submitting proposals for 2022 conferences of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Nordic Educational Research Association.

The GAME research group has been quite productive since late Autumn 2021.

• GAME has been awarded some support to be part of the EU-funded RESUPERES project on resilience in European higher education.
• GAME member Tom Eide Ose has completed his PhD.
• GAME members David Johnson and David Hebert have submitted their R&D report for the EU-funded Music Talks project.
• GAME members Julia Leikvoll, Heather Paudler-Arghandeh, and David Hebert have submitted a chapter on music education in Norway for a book to be published in Japanese, edited by Prof. Masafumi Ogawa.
• GAME leader Prof. David Hebert gave the keynote speech for the Third German Dutch Colloquium in arts education and published an article in Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy and a chapter on music teaching during the pandemic for a book from The State Conservatory of Uzbekistan.
• The book Ethnomusicology and Cultural Diplomacy is now in press with Rowman & Littlefield, including chapters by GAME members David Hebert, Marianne Løkke Jakobsen, Stefan Östersjö, and Thanh Thuy Nguyen. Selected authors also gave a panel presentation on this topic for the British Forum for Ethnomusicology in November 2021.
• GAME members Stefan Östersjö, Thanh Thuy Nguyen, and David Hebert are at work to complete their monograph in February along with Henrik Frisk, titled Shared Listenings: Methods for Transcultural Musicianship and Research (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming).
• GAME members are now at work on Nordplus and Utforsk grant applications, which are due soon.

Numerous research journal articles and chapters in major research handbooks have come from GAME. Several books have also been developed from the GAME milieu, including most recently, Advancing Music Education in Northern Europe (Routledge, 2019), with chapters by four individuals affiliated with the research group: Torunn Bakken Hauge, David Hebert, Tiri Bergesen Schei, and recent Master program graduate Bård Husby.

Other titles affiliated with GAME include Music Glocalization: Heritage and Innovation in a Digital Age (2018, Cambridge Scholars) and International Perspectives on Translation, Education, and Innovation in Japanese and Korean Societies (2018, Springer). The group’s publications have attracted nearly 1000 citations.

List of publications.

GAME has editorship of a book series distributed on the major academic publisher Rowman & Littlefield press: Deep Soundings—The Lexington Series in Historical Ethnomusicology. The first volume in the Deep Soundings book series coordinated through GAME is being published in summer 2021. It is called Activism through Music During the Apartheid Era and Beyond, by Ambigay Yudkoff. Other volumes will also be published in 2021-2022.

In May 2021, Prof. Hebert published a special issue of the Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education along with students from the new HVL course PhD 911: Non-Western Educational Philosophy and Policy. Next, a book will be developed from this project. The course will be offered again in Autumn 2021.

• Music Professions and Musical Heritage of Western Norway: Research and Development for Production of Educational Outreach Videos and MOOCs
• Digital Competence and Digitized Musical Heritage (3-year project through Nordic Network for Music Education)
• Viking Music Project (fieldwork at Nordic early Medieval heritage sites, analysis of artifacts, and interviews with archaeologists, museologists, musicians, etc.; collaboration with Jonathan McCollum in co-authored book for Bloomsbury press)
• Harvard Music Preference Project (survey study through School of Public Health)
• The Recorder in Norwegian Schools (historical study, Rigmor Titt)
• Development of Postgraduate Programs: Hainan Normal University (PhD courses proposed for tropical free-trade island between China and Vietnam, coordinated by Prof. Jiaxing Xie, China Conservatory); Uganda (collaboration to support development of Master and PhD studies at Makerere University, coordinated by Steinar Saetre)
• Open Global Music Academy: Development of online collaboration via consultation for Huaxia Yuefu (200 higher music education institutions) in China.
• Musical Heritage and Cultural Diplomacy (production of a book connected to Cultural Policy international PhD courses at Bergen Summer Research School)
• “Popular music technologies in Norwegian schools” (co-authored article, by Sondre Brudvik and David Hebert)

Nordplus

Support for the Nordic Network for Music Education for its intensive course Music Learning with Digital Technology and virtual mobility/exchange across 17 partner institutions.

Erasmus Plus

GAME is the academic partner with institutions in Latvia and North Macedonia for the 2-year Music Talks project on music listening practices among youth.

Norad

GAME has 6-year Norhed funding from Norad, in collaboration with University of Bergen, as part of the CABUTE project (led by GAME member Steinar Sætre), to develop the first music education PhD program in Uganda.

Swedish Research Council

GAME is hosting a postdoctoral researcher in a 3-year position funded by Swedish Research Council.

With the title Living Sounds, the project is developed by a consortium of prolific engineers, museologists, arts managers, musicologists, composers, and performers from several countries across each part of Europe. Its purpose is to apply state-of-the-art technologies in development of an innovative system that ensures the sustainability of cultural heritage by enabling both museums and musicians to reach new audiences.