2k20: Graduate Music Futures is a collaborative and inclusive conference on the future of music and music education led by students, professionals and academics.
Music education, like the music profession itself, faces an uncertain future. This conference draws upon a range of professional, academic and student perspectives to ask a series of questions about the direction of European higher music education. In an expanding interconnected global society, with increasing transnational flow, cross-cultural tensions and influences, crossover stylistic expressions, enhanced and more immediate digital transmission and an increasing emphasis on social networking, the theme is threefold; to gain a clearer understanding of how European professional musicians live, to acquire a sense of how that life is likely to be for students, and to explore how educators can guide students towards professional life.
As the Instrumental and Vocal Teacher Education Working Group (2010) acknowledges, ‘in Europe there is a huge variety of educational practices and structures; national, regional and institutional practices… seem to have developed quite independently, creating a multitude of interesting approaches. Differences in cultural traditions and infrastructures influence national music education systems in many ways.’
Writing in the ELIA document NXT: Careers in the Arts: visions for the future, Kai Lehikoinen reasons:
‘If we think of the ever-increasing complexity of our world and not just the arts, it is our task as educators to prepare our students not only for a lifetime of uncertainty and change, but also for the diversity of opportunities that exist for artists, arts teachers and artist-researchers today. To succeed in such a world, students need not only artistic expertise, but also a clearer understanding of how to put their professional and entrepreneurial skills to work. They need to discern the available opportunities that might not necessarily prescribe to dated perceptions of art and artist’ (2018: 29).
The humble aim of the conference is to critically examine existing practices, provoke thought and prompt the imagination to wonder where the field is likely to be heading in the near future. I hope you enjoy it!
On March 11th, European academic perspectives will be explored. On the morning of March 12th, the focus will shift towards mentoring, with postgraduate students leading a series of open discussions with professional musicians. On the afternoon of the 12th, informal discussions involving students, professional musicians and guests will take place; all speakers and guests present on the 12th are invited to take part in all of the sessions on the 11th.
For further information and registration, please contact Andy West or download the documents below.
