Music Institute Research Articles

“GIM grabs you, it takes you into the experience that you're ready to have”: An interview with Jim Borling

Jim Borling is a renowned practitioner and primary trainer of the Bonny method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM). His career spans more than thirty years. From the Atlantis Institute for Consciousness and Music, he offers training in several countries such as Spain, where the interviewer currently attends his seminars. In this interview, he explains that GIM is something that changed his own life as well as the lives of many others. This is due to the fact that GIM approaches not only the psycho-social, psycho-emotional, and biographic aspects of clients’ therapeutic work, but also the spiritual dimension of people. He goes over the past, the present, and the future of BMGIM. This semi-structured interview is based on the transcription of a recorded online meeting. We tried to keep the tone informal, offering the vitality of our spoken conversation. Our aim here is to capture a way of understanding and experiencing this method which is increasingly recognised worldwide.

Theoretical foundations of the development of cognitive activity and self-education of students in the process of studying at a music institution

The article is aimed at examining the development of cognitive activity and self-education of students of a higher educational institution with a musical orientation of training, traditional performance art with accordion accompaniment, in particular. The observation of these concepts is preceded by an analysis of the opinions of researchers who have studied a similar issue from variety of aspects. The work provides a vast range of expert views on similar notions and individual aspects of their analysis. First and foremost, the theme of self-education of students is reviewed from the standpoint of determining an active development of individuality by means of autodidactic processes, which is widely considered and explored as a science of self-education in research community. In the frames of this concept, the given topic of self-education and development of cognitive activity among music students is discussed from the perspective of artistic and creative self-development. Creativity is presented as a core of self-education. In addition, the article captures fundamental constituents of developing cognitive activity and self-education of students, such as components of motivational-value, personal activity, and personal development. Additional attention is paid to their criteria, indicators and electivity in the given research with justifications. In the studying of personal development component, two directions of evolution of student abilities are defined: artistic-communicative and artistic-creative elements as basis of learning students’ self-development. The authors characterise stages of independent creative work of music students as example of music-making (activates development of musical ear and author’s own performance on a musical instrument), reading from a music sheet and transposing music (activates musical and intellectual resources, helps in solving auditory, motor-technical and artistic-imaginative tasks), as well as conceptual learning of musical material. The authors also pay attention to the professionalism of the teacher in the development of the aforementioned concepts.

George Russell, the Lydian Chromatic Concept, and Black Student Protest at the New England Conservatory

Abstract: This paper looks at composer and theorist George Russell and the impact his Lydian Chromatic Concept had on Black student activism at the New England Conservatory (NEC) during the late 1960s and early 1970s. I expand on the work of scholars who have explored how Russell's concept reflected the spirit of the civil rights era by showing how students were thinking of it as more than simply sonic freedom and in the ways it affirmed Black life at a predominantly White music institution. Scholars have been increasingly advocating for the incorporation of "fugitive music theorists" such as Russell into undergraduate and graduate music curriculum and this article joins such calls. Relying on conservatory library archives as well as oral interviews with alumni, I argue that Russell's theories served as a musical and political muse for activists in the Creative Black Artists (CBA) student union during an era of curriculum reform and nationwide student protest. In doing so, this article hints at the impact such theories would have on students in the twenty-first century.

The Academic Activities of the Gnesins’ State Musical-Pedagogical Institute During the First Ten Years of its Work.

On the basis of the documents preserved at the Russian State Archive for Literature and Art, the author of the article illuminates the historical context of the inauguration in 1944 of a musical institution of higher education of a scholarly-methodological profle, and also provides her evaluation of the frst decade of its functioning. As a characteristic feature, the absence of a strongly pronounced “formative period” is noted, since the activities of the Gnesins’ State Musical-Pedagogical Institute relied on the half-a-century old experience of the functioning of the other educational institutions founded by the Gnesins’. The article examines questions of the active development of the music theory education of a three-level system (from the school to the college, and then to the higher educational institution), of the formation of the genres of musicological literature, the collaboration of the faculty of the new musical education with the Moscow Conservatory, etc. The author of the article emphasizes that the constructive scholarly-methodological work under the guidance of Elena Fabianovna Gnesina was of an expedient character. During the course of a decade the tutorial-methodological basis of the professional musical education of the whole country was formed. During the course of a short period of time, the activities of the institute acquired a national scale, thereby, the Gnesins’ State Musical-Pedagogical Institutes became an outstanding project of time.

Chișinău: City of the THree Conservatories

The study deals with the subject of the establishment and activity of the three musical institutions (Conservatory) in the interwar period in Chișinău. The idea of opening a musical institution belonged to the Romanian composer and conductor George Enescu, after his first visit to Chișinău. The capital of Bessarabia was assessed by the inspectors in Bucharest as having a high musical potential. The teaching staff of these musical education institutions was made up of representatives of national minorities, which meant a special approach to their knowledge of the Romanian language. The conservatories faced material difficulties, logistical difficulties and difficulties in gaining recognition from the institutional state, which is why they did not have a large-scale effervescence. The institutions of musical education were a platform for the launch into the artistic world of established personalities. It was created departments of singing, piano, violin, cello, fanfare theory, dramatic art, orchestral classes, ensembles, choir, accompanist and chamber, opera. Symphonic and opera concerts from the repertoire of classical composers were presented in the institutions, but Romanian compositions had priority. The educational and cultural institutions responded to the identity imperative of the time, launching established names of Romanian music.

Formation of Basson Classes at the Paris Conservatory

The object of the study was the origins and initial period of the formation of bassoon classes at the Paris Conservatory. The author analyzed the early stages of the training process involved in the French bassoon school. The role of maîtrise and military bands in the instruction of bassoon performers before the beginning of the revolutionary events in 1789 was revealed. The study exposed the influence of the church music-educational system on the professionalization of secular instrumental and vocal performance, as well as its importance in the creative development of prominent French bassoonists who were formed in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The author investigated the essence of the ideological and political factors of the French Revolution in the creation of a new democratic system that began to exist in professional musical education, which guaranteed its accessibility to the general population and free education on a competitive basis. The article provides a chronology of the beginning and development of bassoon classes on the path of professionalization of performance on wind instruments at the National Guard Music School, the National Institute of Music and the Paris Conservatory. The peculiarities of the implementation of the competitive system of professional training of instrumentalists, as well as the formation of didactic materials to ensure the educational process at the Paris Conservatory became the basis for further artistic education. This fact was carefully analyzed and became the basis for the conclusions of the article. The innovative guide of E. Ozi "School of Playing the Bassoon", was regarded as one of the first complete instructional materials for the bassoon. It was officially approved as a study guide for mastering the instrument, became a powerful impetus for the development of the conservatory students’ performance skills. The author emphasized and defined the role of E. Ozi in the creation of bassoon classes at the Paris Conservatory, as well as in the founding of the French performing school. It has been proven that an important factor in the development of French bassoon performance in the second half of the 18th century was the inclusion of the bassoon in the training programs of metris and its use in church ensembles to accompany choral singing during divine services

Editorial

Dear readers,On behalf of the entire editorial team, we want to thank our readers and congratulate ourselves on our first issue of the Open Journal of Music Education. As you probably already know, this journal is part of an extensive library of scientific journals that is the fruit of the efforts of the Global Institute for Music Research.In the Open Journal of Music Education (OJME) scientific communications related to the educational activity carried out in institutions dedicated to the integral education of the individual are published.

Primorsky Musical Institute in the history of the development of academic music in the Far East (1923-1924)

The article examines the activities of the Primorsky Musical Institute (1923-1924), which contributed to the development of academic music in the Far East in the post-revolutionary period, associated with the liquidation of the "buffer state" of the Far Eastern Republic (FER, 1920-1922) and its accession to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Through the prism of historical documents and archival materials, the factology of which did not fall into the analytics available today, corrective information is introduced into music science, which, on the one hand, forms an up-to-date view of the activities of the Primorsky Musical Institute, in terms of preserving traditions, paying attention to successive ties with the Imperial Russian Musical Society (RMO / IRMO), which played a special role in organizing the musical life of the country, and the Far East during the period of Imperial Russia. On the other hand, he names the reasons why the closure of the Institute led to the impossibility of the historical continuation of the forward line of development laid down by the IRMS in the Sovietized post-FER period. Contextual study allows the fact of the emergence of the Primorsky Musical Institute in Vladivostok to be comprehended as a consequence of the inertially preserved organizational work of the Vladivostok branch of the IRMO (1909-1917), which opened a music school at the Department, and then established a music school at the RMO (1917-1922).

Developing Professional Skills of a Performing Musician in a Higher Music Institution

"The aim of the research is to determine the problem of developing the professional skills of a performing musician in a higher education music institution. The study involved the following methods: comparative analysis, systematization and grouping, derivation of categories. The relevance of this study is determined by the need to modernize and expand the boundaries of the educational environment when teaching performing musicians. The results of the development of this problem represented it as a complex, multifaceted and, at the same time, integral system, which includes components that differ in content and function, ensuring the effectiveness of the educational program. The conclusions testify to a wide scope of the problem of the formation of a performing musician, its focus on various spheres in the life of society, and the importance of each of its components. The prospects of further research in this field of art are in its flexibility, the ability to be updated, replenished with the achievements of time, and respond to the needs and mood of society. Keywords: music education, integration, art, performing musician, dual education"

The “mirroring” method: a case study to enhance the nexus between music performance practice and artistic research in higher music education at European conservatories

After the Bologna Declaration (1999) and the institution of artistic research in music (i.e., PhD in the Arts) in European conservatories, higher music education is facing a revolution. The renewed study program within today’s international music scene is oriented to give students the possibility to be trained and prepared as both professional musicians and/or artist-researchers. Therefore, the current debate at European conservatories is strongly focused on how to activate a nexus between performance practice and artistic research within bachelor’s and master's programmes. This paper presents and discusses a case study of a workshop in music performance practice integrated in the Research Practice Program at Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. It consists of a series of teaching modules inspired by the mirroring method I developed during my PhD at University Ghent – Institute for Psychoacoustic and Electronic Music (IPEM) - and I implemented, as a postdoctoral artist-researcher, in my teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (2021-2023). The goal of this method is to assist students in growing up their own artistic identity and trajectory and become professional performers with a possible path on artistic research in music. Students are guided on how to structure music performance practice as a research activity through a systematic documentation, analysis, and dissemination of their own creative process. Outputs can be identified in the improvement of students’ body awareness while playing in relation to score analysis and the achievements of research questions that arise from their reflection in and on their practice. An impact of this approach is retrieved in the elaboration of bachelor’s and master’s theses that can ultimately constitute a bridge for future artistic research proposals. Keywords. Music Performance Practice, Artistic Research in Music, Higher Music Education, Music Performance Analysis, Music Analysis.

교방해체기 기생 예술의 정체성 연구

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the status and artistic identity of gisaengs in the process of dismantling modern Gyobang. Gyobang was established before King Gwangjong of the Goryeo Dynasty and existed until 1910, passing through the Joseon Dynasty. Rather than analyzing the meaning of the dismantling of Gyobang, which has lasted for more than a thousand years, it is being studied by focusing only on the personal activities of modern gisaengs.
 Gyobang is an organization planned by the state, and modern parasitic organizations were operated in the private or private sector. The dissolution of Gyobang means the loss of the national music institution and the disappearance of the official status. After the dissolution of Gyobang, popular art due to commercial capital became a trend. Nevertheless, modern gisaeng accumulated artistic capabilities through various activities. Therefore, we would like to study the status of gisaengs and the identity of artistic activities that have changed since the dissolution of Gyobang.

Nothing but Noise: Timbre and Musical Meaning at the Edge, by Zachary Wallmark

Review| April 01 2023 Nothing but Noise: Timbre and Musical Meaning at the Edge, by Zachary Wallmark Nothing but Noise: Timbre and Musical Meaning at the Edge, by Zachary Wallmark. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. xiii, 215 pp. Thomas Patteson Thomas Patteson THOMAS PATTESON is a member of the Musical Studies Faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. Recent publications include a cowritten essay and two translations in the Oxford Handbook of Timbre (2021), which won the 2022 Ruth A. Solie Award from the American Musicological Society. His current research interests include the history and philosophy of musical improvisation and cross-cultural perspectives on music and consciousness. He plays instruments, too: keyboard, alto saxophone, and modular synthesizer. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of the American Musicological Society (2023) 76 (1): 249–252. https://doi.org/10.1525/jams.2023.76.1.249 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Thomas Patteson; Nothing but Noise: Timbre and Musical Meaning at the Edge, by Zachary Wallmark. Journal of the American Musicological Society 1 April 2023; 76 (1): 249–252. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jams.2023.76.1.249 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of the American Musicological Society Search With this book, Zachary Wallmark has made an ambitious contribution to the famously elusive study of musical timbre. Efforts to integrate the sciences and the humanities, however nobly intentioned, are understandably dogged by the suspicion that one side of the equation is going to end up—to paraphrase Orwell—more equal than the other. But Wallmark succeeds admirably in avoiding the shortcomings of both the scientific desire to study sound in isolation from the messiness of human subjectivity and the humanistic reduction of musical experience to the arbitrary play of cultural difference. His book is perhaps best viewed as an attempt not so much to bridge the “two cultures” as to harmonize their best qualities. In the first chapter, Wallmark boldly proposes a conceptual model for the full spectrum of sonic phenomena, from the generative act to the arbitrary symbolic dimension of sound in human consciousness, and everything in between. This is... You do not currently have access to this content.

Mick Moloney (1944–2022)

Mick Moloney (1944–2022)

Case Study of China’s Compulsory Education System: AI Apps and Extracurricular Dance Learning

The article examines the impact of AI tools in extracurricular online dance classes on student learning outcomes. The approach to interactive dance learning within Choreography (which is the mandatory discipline) using innovative M-learning platforms and apps such as Moodle and STEEZY has been introduced. An educational experiment was conducted among 40 students of the Institute of Music and Choreography at Ningxia Pedagogical University. The dance accomplishments in the control and experimental groups were assessed using the Choreographic Creativity Rating Scale in three areas: physical skills, presentation, and creativity. The mean levels of dancers’ choreographic skills, as assessed by experts and audience at the end of the educational experiment, were determined. Students’ projects were presented in such directions as: Hip-hop, Open Style, K-pop, House, Breaking, Popping, Whacking, Krump, Jazz Funk. The assessment of 4 levels of dance choreography (level 1—below expectations, level 2—meets some expectations, level 3—fully meets expectations, and level 4—exceeds expectations) in the areas of physical skills, presentation, and creativity of dancers’ skills made it possible to compare learning outcomes in the control group and the experimental group. The expert assessment of students’ achievements suggested that additional online extracurricular activities contribute to better dance skills, effective development of dancers’ physical (+1.6), presentation (+1.16) and creative (+1.01) skills. This article is intended for dance instructors developing effective courses using relevant digital tools.

Dancing feet and gecko toes

Groove is a feeling On the dance floor, the warmth of a “disco inferno” can certainly be felt, even when its flames are invisible. At least that’s what a recent study on inaudible bass and dancing found. Dance floor science is one subject of study at LIVELab, a unique fusion of performance hall and research facility, which is part of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. Centered on exploring the interplay of science and the arts, LIVELab has the capability to manipulate acoustics in real time while recording the motion and physiological responses of both performers and audience members. Recently, LIVELab hosted an electronic music concert to study whether deep bass contributes to groove, even if inaudible. Every 2.5 min of the continuous 55 min concert, the researchers dropped a beat so low— 8–37 Hz—that it was below the range of human hearing. The lucky dance floor participants,

‘Cantare alla greca con citere e violini’: Western Musical Transfers and Localisations in Early Modern Crete

During the late mediaeval and early modern periods, Crete was the most important Venetian colony, giving the Republic almost unchallenged commercial and military control of the eastern Mediterranean. Based on archive and documentary evidence, this article discusses the role played by music as a means of social and cultural control over the native Cretan population.
 After a brief introduction to the history of the Venetian domination of Crete (aka Venetocracy) and of its impact on local literature and visual arts, the first section deals with the presence of Western music in the Venetian secular and religious institutions. From a very early stage, Venice started employing locals as civic musicians (mostly trumpeters and ‘piffari’). For the locals themselves, a stable role in the local musical institution represented an opportunity for income and social ascension; for the Republic, meanwhile, it was a means of political and cultural control. Music was also central to religious institutions, as documented by archive sources. The main churches and monasteries on the island had instruments and singers and provided training for the Catholic clergy and musicians.
 The article goes on to explore the dissemination of Western secular instrumental and polyphonic practices in the main Cretan cities, taking as a case study literary sources dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which testify to polyphonic compositions in Greek, such as madrigals and incidental music. A last example is represented by the chivalric romance Erotokritos, containing references to Western musical symbolism, such as the myth of Orpheus as a good rhetor and sovereign, and the lute representing civic harmony. Written by a Hellenised Venetian nobleman, Erotokritos represents the most manifest case of musical values being used for pro-Venetian propaganda.

Erkki Melartin: life marked death, music for life

The object of research of this article is the Finnish musical culture. The subject of the study is the life and work of composer, teacher, conductor and educator Erkka Melartin (1875-1937).The purpose of the article is to recreate the personal and creative portrait of E. Melartin as one of the outstanding musicians of Finland in the first half of the twentieth century. The author examines in detail the biography of the composer in close connection with all types of his activities, gives a description of the main directions of the composer's creativity. The author pays special attention to the administrative activities of E. Melartin as the head of the Helsingfors Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy), his conducting and pedagogical work. The main conclusions of the study: Erkki Melartin made a tremendous contribution to the development of culture and musical professional education in Finland; his impressive compositional heritage (with many influences of other composers and folklore of Karelia) has bright and distinctive features; E. Melartin is the author of the first national opera ("Aino") and the first large-scale national ballet ("Blue Pearl"). Among his students: Aarre Merikanto, Jurje Kilpinen, Vyane Raitio, Ilmari Hannikainen, Uuno Klami, Sulho Ranta and Helvi Leiviska – those who later formed the elite of the Finnish school of composition of the twentieth century. The article for the first time in Russian musicology publishes detailed information about the life, work and social activities of the composer.

The 15th International Conference of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus22)

The International Conferences of Students of Systematic Musicology (SysMus) are a series of interdisciplinary student-run conferences with the aim of promoting intellectual exchange between early-career researchers in various fields of systematic musicology. In 2022, the 15th conference was hosted by the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM) in Ghent, Belgium, and was held in a hybrid format, allowing researchers to be present and participate in the events in person and online. SysMus22 comprised 43 posters, 23 presentations, 6 workshops, a panel discussion, musical demonstrations, and 3 musical performances. Topics were as diverse as music cognition, psychology, health and well-being, music theory and performance, technology, and philosophy, among others. Adding to the richness and diversity of topics were keynote lectures given by Psyche Loui (MIND Laboratory, Northeastern University), Mendel Kaelen (Wavepaths), and Rebecca Schaefer (Music, Brain, Health & Technology Laboratory, Leiden University). The whole conference was marked by a friendly, warm, and stimulating atmosphere, encouraging the exchange of ideas between all participants and particularly among researchers at the beginning of their academic careers in systematic musicology. This report provides an overview of SysMus22, the topics it covered, and the format it employed, with a critical discussion of the benefits and challenges posed by the hybrid format.

A Study of the Value of the Human Voice in the Context of Body Embodiment

The idea that “the human voice has a feature of embodiment” was proposed by Mr. Xue Yibing, a Chinese researcher who belongs to a member of the Institute of Music, China Academy of Art. Such a no-tion is not only strange but also familiar. In this context, this paper will borrow the concept of "the origin of musical beauty is the human voice" and combine it with Husserl’s view of "To the things themselves" in phenomenology. Under this circumstance, the embodiment of the human voice would be understood from the human body and sound itself, and the existence value and aesthetic value of the human voice it brings, that is, from the current value, it proves the subjectivity, spiritual embodiment and emotional preservation of human beings; from the aesthetic value, it recognizes non-real objects, brings dynamic manifestation and embodies aesthetic imagery. The inspiration of the human voice in contemporary art creation is further ob-tained: the understanding of tradition and innovation in the human voice, the use of voice to integrate the single and multiple, the human voice to carry the individual and society, the human voice to coordinate the reality and transcendence, which gives the human voice in the new era more profound connotation and sig-nificance.

Erkki Melartin: Life Marked by Death, Music for Life

The research object of this article is Finnish musical culture. The subject of the study is the life and work of composer, teacher, conductor, and educator Erkki Melartin (1875–1937). The purpose of the article is to recreate the personal and creative portrait of Melartin as one of Finland’s most outstanding musicians during the first half of the twentieth century. The author examines in detail the composer's biography in close connection with all types of his activities and describes the main directions of the composer's creativity. The author pays special attention to Melartin's administrative activities as the head of the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy), his conducting, and his pedagogical work. The main conclusions of the study are that Erkki Melartin made a tremendous contribution to the development of culture and musical professional education in Finland; his impressive compositional heritage (with many influences of other composers and Karelia folklore) has bright and distinctive features; Melartin is the author of the first national opera (Aino) and the first large-scale national ballet (Blue Pearl). Among his students: Aarre Merikanto, Yrjö Kilpinen, Vyane Raitio, Ilmari Hannikainen, Uuno Klami, Sukho Ranta, and Helvi Leiviskä —those who later formed the elite of the Finnish School of Composition in the twentieth century. The article, a first in Russian musicology, publishes detailed information about the composer's life, work, and social activities. The main conclusions of the study: Erkki Melartin made a tremendous contribution to the development of culture and musical professional education in Finland; his impressive compositional heritage (with many influences of other composers and folklore of Karelia) has bright and distinctive features; E. Melartin is the author of the first national opera ("Aino") and the first large-scale national ballet ("Blue Pearl"). Among his students: Aarre Merikanto, Jurje Kilpinen, Vyane Raitio, Ilmari Hannikainen, Uuno Klami, Sulho Ranta and Helvi Leiviska – those who later formed the elite of the Finnish school of composition of the twentieth century. The article for the first time in Russian musicology publishes detailed information about the life, work and social activities of the composer.