Musical Leadership Research Articles

Enduring impacts of collaborative workplace music mentoring for early childhood generalist teachers, music mentors and students

ABSTRACT This study documents the enduring impacts of a workplace music mentoring programme for generalist classroom teachers in early childhood school settings in Australia. The study draws on follow-up interviews with mentors, teachers and principals from five of 11 participating schools one year after the programme. This study identifies participant perceptions of enduring outcomes, enduring effective mentoring, and effective mentor qualities. Two researchers undertook thematic analysis independently and conducted iterative discussions to refine the emerging themes. Enduring outcomes for mentors, teachers and students included: (1) music mentoring as collaborative self-development; (2) identification and realisation of individual and collective goals for music teaching; (3) reflection, feedback and joint planning informing learning; (4) integration of music into daily activities, lesson transitions, school culture; (5) creating a community of music practice in and across schools; and (6) improved classroom climate and enhanced student engagement and positive behaviours. Enduring qualities of effective music teaching included: (7) building teacher confidence and competence for music leadership; (8) observation of expert practice as a learning tool; (9) focused feedback informing lesson planning and implementation; and (10) specialised, collaborative workplace mentoring. Enduring qualities of effective music mentors included sensitivity, responsiveness, situational awareness, flexibility, and subject and pedagogic expertise.

Exploring Preservice Music Teachers’ Self-Reflections: A Comparison of Immediate and Video Reflections

The purpose of this study was to compare preservice music teachers’ self-reflections about their teaching from two perspectives: immediate reflection and video reflection. Preservice music teachers’ reflections were analyzed, and 22 codes emerged. Our analysis of the preservice music teachers’ reflections found that the 22 codes aligned with self, task, and student impact concerns as outlined by Fuller and Bown (1975). Preservice music teacher reflections focused primarily on task concerns (1,137), followed by self-concerns (441) and student impact concerns (343). A significant difference was found between immediate and video reflections for self-concerns ( W = −98 p = .02) but not for task or student impact concerns. Self-concerns about musical leadership, teacher talk, and teacher delivery were mostly noted following video reflections, while concerns of student engagement, student success, teaching strategies, student assessment, and feedback were referenced immediately following their lesson.

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC MUSIC EDUCATION AND MODERN SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT: ASPECT OF VALUE AND WORLDVIEW

A set of values and worldviews of professional academic music education in the context of the current sociocultural situation is considered. The complex of views on music is interpreted as a way of musical socialization. The coexistence of a wide range of musical socialization channels in the modern world is positioned as a prerequisite for the intonational images of the world confrontation. It is determined that academic music education transmits the mental attitudes of opus music, according to which it occupies a dominant position in the tone atmosphere. The hierarchy of musical practices as a result of non-academic music evaluation according to the academic sphere parameters is explored. The position of this value and worldview system through the prism of musical-cultural polycentrism is analyzed. Mandatory markers of academic music leadership have been shown to be conditional. It is stated that the writing nature of making music should not be positioned as a criterion for determining the professionalism and value of non-academic music practices. It is emphasized that the protection of this parameter affects the shift of emphasis from the “music as process” to “music as objects”. The primacy of the concert performance communicative model is denied. It is stated that this deprives all its subjects of active participation. It is noted that the parameter of autonomy of musical creativity should not be used in positioning different music practices. The functional distinctiveness of musicians is demonstrated on the two segments of the music services market. The meaning of the categories “elitism” and “art” is refuted on the basis of sociological and cultural transformations. It is indicated that on their basis have been developed new limits of the definition of these concepts.
 Keywords: professional academic music education; training of musical art specialists; value and worldview complex of academic music; ideology of opus music; modern socio-cultural environment; subcultural stratification; chaotic intonational versatility; sociology of music education.

Extreme precision in rhythmic interaction is enabled by role-optimized sensorimotor coupling: analysis and modelling of West African drum ensemble music.

Human social interactions often involve carefully synchronized behaviours. Musical performance in particular features precise timing and depends on the differentiation and coordination of musical/social roles. Here, we study the influence of musical/social roles, individual musicians and different ensembles on rhythmic synchronization in Malian drum ensemble music, which features synchronization accuracy near the limits of human performance. We analysed 72 recordings of the same piece performed by four trios, in which two drummers in each trio systematically switched roles (lead versus accompaniment). Musical role, rather than individual or group differences, is the main factor influencing synchronization accuracy. Using linear causal modelling, we found a consistent pattern of bi-directional couplings between players, in which the direction and strength of rhythmic adaptation is asymmetrically distributed across musical roles. This differs from notions of musical leadership, which assume that ensemble synchronization relies predominantly on a single dominant personality and/or musical role. We then ran simulations that varied the direction and strength of sensorimotor coupling and found that the coupling pattern used by the Malian musicians affords nearly optimal synchronization. More broadly, our study showcases the importance of ecologically valid and culturally diverse studies of human behaviour.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology’.

Rebalancing the tradition – Wisdom theology in hymnody

ABSTRACT This article will examine gender issues in hymnody through the lens of Wisdom theology and Foucault’s subjugated ways of knowing. It interrogates the place of women in musical leadership in the history of Christianity and the nature of the hymnody that developed under male leadership. It analyses the dominant theology of traditional hymnody and calls for a rebalancing to include women’s creations and feminist theology. It claims that greater attention needs to be paid to what is sung in liturgy as singing takes a theology deeper into human consciousness. It draws from the women’s alternative worshipping groups as a case study and explores the obstacles to their representation in more public liturgy. It raises issues around the choosing of hymns and the obstacles in the way of a move towards a tradition that is more inclusive.

The philosophical fiber: Rethinking ensemble conducting in light of a record producer’s practice

The overall aim of this single case study is to find aspects of musical leadership relevant to ensemble conducting, using the theory of practice architectures to analyze a record producer’s practice. Data generation is performed mainly through transcripts and reflection logs based on YouTube interviews and videos. Insights into ensemble conducting are offered by exploring the following question: “What aspects of musical leadership relevant to conducting can be identified by applying the theory of practice architectures to an analysis of record producer Daniel Lanois’s practice?” The materials are analyzed based on three contexts of interpretation of meaning in hermeneutics. The theory of practice architectures serves as the analytical lens for the third context of interpretation. Main findings from this study are extracted into nine concepts that may serve as aspects of musical leadership relevant to conducting: a fast communication system, a self-adjusting act, black dubs, locations, operating by limitation, master station, the philosophical fiber, preparing, and sonic ambience. These and similar concepts may offer new insights into ensemble conducting in contexts similar to recording situations.

“Compassionate Dictatorship”: Leading Old Singers in Community Choirs in Australia

In Australia, the ageing population generate challenges, pressures and opportunities for both governmental and community organisations. Involvement in community choirs offers older people diverse benefits that increase with ongoing participation. The music directors/conductors (MD/C) of community choirs are pivotal in the success of ensembles. This paper forms part of our wider study into Well-being and ageing: community, diversity and the arts in Victoria, Australia and addresses the questions, how do music directors/conductors (MD/C) of community choirs understand working with older people? And, how do older choir members understand the role of their MD/C? We interviewed two MD/Cs and thematically analysed our data. We present our findings under two overarching themes that evolved from our data analysis: Understandings of working with older people in a choir and musical leadership in a community setting. We found that the MD/Cs are reflective practitioners who imbued their facilitation and conducting with enthusiasm, skill, knowledge and passion for musical engagement. Our research suggests that to ensure longevity of choirs and to recognise the contribution of MD/Cs, greater attention should be paid to the upskilling of future generations of MD/Cs.

Digital Methods for the Study of the Nineteenth-Century Orchestra

The nineteenth century saw a number of significant changes in European musical culture, including changes in the size and nature of the orchestra and the rise of the modern conductor. The coordination and musical leadership of orchestras has taken a variety of forms historically, but from around the middle of the nineteenth century silent conducting gradually began to supplant other forms of time keeping and instrumental leadership in opera and concert orchestras. Little or no empirical work has attempted to investigate the musical, social and perceptual consequences of this development, largely due to the technical challenges that must be addressed. This article describes the development and implementation of innovative digital methods to provide a detailed and multifaceted picture of a large ensemble in action, investigating the consequences of different distributions of individual musical agency for: 1) musicians’ playing experiences; 2) ensemble coordination and expressive timing; and 3) listeners’ evaluations. These methods include a polling application, implemented on participants’ smartphones, to provide fast-turnaround feedback from orchestral musicians about their experiences of playing under different conditions; and the use of digital methods to analyse acoustical data from the individual instruments of an orchestral string section, to facilitate a quantitative analysis of orchestral togetherness. Analyses of the experiential, quantitative and listener data from a preliminary study with an orchestra of musicians from the Royal Academy of Music, London, are presented, together with a discussion of the insights that these methods provide. The article concludes by considering the prospects of these methods for investigating nineteenth-century rehearsal and performance practices.

From inclusion to inclusivity: A scoping review of community music scholarship

This article investigates how community music scholarship has taken up inclusion. Using a modified scoping review methodology, the authors analysed 47 articles published in the International Journal of Community Music from 2008 to 2018, examining how scholars have defined and operationalized the terms ‘inclusion’ and ‘inclusivity’, which were used interchangeably in the literature. The authors found that inclusion was often normatively invoked with no definition or approaches provided. In those articles that provided more detail about inclusion, many focused on musical access, such as removing auditions and not requiring previous music skill or knowledge, and processes of musical inclusion, such as creating a friendly and non-judgmental atmosphere, providing multiple ways of engaging with music-making and cultivating musical leadership among participants. Less frequent in the literature were ideas and approaches focusing on social inclusion through music, including frameworks that aimed to address and change systems that create marginalization; approaches that addressed social barriers to participation, such as transportation and childcare; and approaches that decentralized leadership to create collective responsibility and participation. The authors conclude by examining approaches from other scholarly disciplines, arguing that community music scholarship may benefit for more sustained and deliberate use of the term inclusivity, which points to the ongoing practice and effort towards inclusion.

The Shifting Sands of Music Leadership: Searching for Disciplinary Space in a Research-led University

The Shifting Sands of Music Leadership: Searching for Disciplinary Space in a Research-led University

Musical Leadership and Societal Transformation: Inspiration and Courage in Action

Music is a form of leadership. Music-based interventions in organizations and society are being used throughout the world, including in situations of extreme conflict and consequence. Artists are going beyond the dehydrated language of economics, politics, and war to achieve goals that have eluded those using more traditional approaches. This article presents musical interventions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela, in which musicians have had the inspiration and courage to make a difference.

EEG Hyperconnectivity Study on Saxophone Quartet Playing in Ensemble.

A professional quartet of saxophonists playing in ensemble provides a perfect scenario to study the eventual occurrence of synchronous oscillatory brain activity across subjects. Here, we applied hyperscanning methodologies for simultaneously recordings of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from four professional saxophonists while they observ an audiovideo recording of their own previous musical performance. An ad-hoc musical composition was written for the study. At debriefing, the subjects were asked to answer two questionnaires to assess their empathy trait and the musical leadership. In order to estimate the hyperconnectivity of each musician we proposed a measure which combines phase synchronization index of brain oscillations and graph theory framework. The inter-connectivity level of each musician was statistically compared. Statistical results revealed a significant lower hyperconnectivity in the left Brodmann area 44 for the Soprano with respect to the other three members. Recent theories attributed this brain region (Broca's area) to music generation, empathy processes and communication. We hypothesize a relationship between brain-to-brain connectivity level and the musical role within the quartet.

To beat or not to beat

Name: Jean-Loup Gagnon Main Subject: Harpsichord Research Supervisors: Bert Mooiman, Peter Van Heyghen Title of Research: To beat or not to beat: reflections on musical leadership practices in the 18th century Research Question: What did musical leadership mean in the 18th century? Summary of Results: In the last century, historically informed performance practice has gained more and more popularity within the musical scene. In fact, musicians have being increasingly interested in historical articulation, phrasing, instrumentation, ornamentation, tempi, etc. Surprisingly, historical conducting practices have not been significantly investigated and hardly ever in a practical way. It may be the reason why there is a lack of experimentation in this domain, why even Early Music ensembles are using the modern way of conducting, which is to have an interpretative conductor that stands in front of the group. Would it not also be relevant to know how composers like Mozart, Handel or Bach would have “conducted” their works? Did Mozart conduct his wind serenade “Gran partita” by making gestures like we can see in Forman's movie Amadeus? Can we learn from their practical experience? This research demystifies conducting practices in the 18th century and brings a practical to the subject. Biography: Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in maestro al cembalo at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, Jean-Loup Gagnon studies improvisation and leadership from the harpsichord with Patrick Ayrton and harpsichord performance with Fabio Bonizzoni. His researches focus on leadership practices in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries and on stylistic streams like the Mannheim School and the Galant Style, which constituted the musical grammar for genius composers such as Mozart.

Beethoven & Bamboo:The Impact of Arts-based Methodologies in Higher Education Management Learning

This paper uses an experiential music exercise to better understand current conceptualizations of Higher Education Management learning. As an accessible, inclusive and generative Arts-based medium, music provides a natural platform to investigate its impact on student learning and sheds light on conceptualizations of Management education. Premised on open space learning techniques, students engaged with embodied forms of learning and navigated the landscape of possibilities that were enabled by the musical exercise. Traditional forms of Management education have been somewhat slow to embrace alternative pedagogical approaches in terms of delivery. For instance, those involving the Arts. Through experiential learning our findings in this paper contribute to these emerging teaching methodologies via a team- based musical leadership exercise. The empirical material generated from student interviews of this workshop (co- facilitated by a musical artist and two academics) uncover alternative conceptualizations of Management learning, and the discussions illuminate the benefits/challenges of Arts-based methodologies in Business Higher education.

Higher education student learning beyond the classroom: findings from a community music service learning project in rural South Africa

ABSTRACTInspired by local arts community engagement initiatives and community music interventions internationally, Wits University (in Johannesburg, South Africa) developed a model of service learning that links the intentions, methodologies and purposes of these domains to promote student learning and benefit communities. This paper examines the quality and content of Community Music students’ learning in a pilot project located in Limpopo province in South Africa. Data from student focus groups and academic essays were analysed in terms of the discernible levels of students’ ‘academic, personal and civic learning’ [Ash, S. L., and P. H. Clayton. 2009. “Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning.” Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education 1: 25–48]. This critical reflection framework enabled students to articulate and deepen their learning, demonstrating their development in creative musical leadership and sense of social responsiveness and responsibility. Findings prompt further interrogation of the purposes and impact of community music service learning as a model of community engagement in South African higher education, to advance the key role of the arts in South Africa’s social transformation.

Musical Leadership and Societal Transformation: Inspiration and Courage in Action

Music is a form of leadership. Music-based interventions in organizations and society are being used throughout the world, including in situations of extreme con ict and consequence. Artists are going beyond the dehydrated language of economics, politics, and war to achieve goals that have eluded those using more traditional approaches. This article presents musical interventions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela, in which musicians have had the inspiration and courage to make a di erence.

Lamentos al son del arpa. La imagen del rey David penitente en la pintura valenciana del Barroco

Este artículo parte de dos lienzos de Pablo Pontons y Vicente Guilló para el estudio de la imagen del rey David, especialmente en su tipo iconográfico de David penitente. Formulado originalmente en las miniaturas medievales que se apoyaban en su papel de salmista y fundador de la música sacra, esta tipología tomó episodios de su vida que se convirtieron en modelos de penitencia. El trabajo estudia la tradición cultural convencionalizada de la gura de David, su patronazgo musical y la continuidad del tipo del rey penitente en el Barroco, tanto en grabados como en programas visuales como los de Pontons y Guilló para Morella y Alcalà de Xivert, respectivamente. Este uso didáctico permite relacionar las manifestaciones visuales con la literatura sacra.

Music and Ultra-Modernism in France: A Fragile Consensus, 1913–1939 by Barbara L. Kelly (review)

Music and Ultra-Modernism France: A Fragile Consensus, 1913-1939. By Barbara L. Kelly. (Music Society and Culture.) Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.: Boydell Press, 2013. [x, 257 p. ISBN 9781843838104 (hardcover), $95; (e-book), various.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index. Successfully walking tightrope between cultural-historical musicology and reception history, Music and Ultra-Modernism France: A Fragile Consensus, 1913-1939 tackles wide range of issues, all of which assert sense of purpose (to further the development of French musical style), whether national, political, religious, or academic, felt by composers and during the period question. Although musicologists have often sought out the frictions and significant differences between artists, identifying their original and significant contributions, Kelly's volume searches for variety of forms, whether aesthetic, critical, stylistic, harmonic, structural or contextual. She probes reception history' the period, line with her other work on Maurice Ravel and the cultural practice of music France. As she noted previously: apparent political unity that emerged before the Great War also appears to have created some consensus among musicians (Barbara Kelly, French Music, Culture, and National Identity, 1870-1939 [Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2008], 9). Music and Ultra-Modernism France significant contribution to the field as it acknowledges the history of the musicological discipline within France before World War II, as well as detailing the debate not only between critics, but also between composers, and between and composers, as well as among those identifying themselves as musicologists (the informed critics). The title of this book intriguing, and the subheading an accurate reflection of the book's content. The reference to ultra-modernism, though, perhaps not the clearest way to illustrate the main focus of the book, which does not aim to define this term, but rather refers to its use contemporaneous criticism (see pp. 4--7) before probing the issues where consensus can be found. Kelly responds to Edmondstoune Duncan's book, Ultra-Modernism Music: A Treatise on the Latler-Day Revolution Musical Art (London: Winthrop Rogers, 1915), by exploring a whole generation of composers who contributed some elements of the 'visionary' (p. 5) to advancing musical ideas and techniques, and to Jacques Maritain's Anti-modernisme (Paris: Librairie de l'art catholique, 1920; 3d ed., Rouart, 1935). The interwar period had perception of lack of great (p. 6) beyond Claude Debussy, but this volume asserts who those figures are by drawing out the leading and changing trends French interwar music, particularly asserting the force of Ravel's musical leadership (chapters 2 and 3), that of Charles Koechlin and Olivier Messiaen (chapter 3), and that of Francis Poulenc and Georges Auric (chapter 6). As Kelly notes, the aim of this book is to identify and trace the evolution of sonority as distinctive French modernist strand, seeing it as central, enduring and consistent preoccupation French musical traditions from Debussy's generation onwards, which was subjected to transformation the 1920s and 1930s (pp. 8-9). There are copious citations from critical reviews as well as of letters from numerous archival deposits. As Glenn Watkins identified his book Pyramids at the Louvre: Music, Culture, and Collage from Stravinsky to the Postmodernists, critics and composers alike had begun to explore similar musical ideas in tandem with the cultural trends of the day (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1994, [p. 146]). Kelly takes up this baton. Notably, the archival research presents correspondence previously not explored, particularly as regards Leon Vallas. Kelly raises significant questions regarding the way that thematic consensus on various composers shared--and some respects, developed and promoted--in the press as result of composer-critic partnerships (chapter 3). …

The Musical Experiences, Career Aspirations, and Attitudes Toward the Music Education Profession of All-State Musicians

Gaining insight into reasons student musicians choose or do not choose to pursue music education as a career is invaluable to our efforts to sustain and strengthen our discipline. This study sought to determine the musical experiences and motivating factors for outstanding high school musicians who might pursue a career in music education. A 21-question survey seeking demographic information, musical experiences, and future plans was administered to 1,205 all-state ensemble members. The results suggest that these student musicians are receiving many varied musical experiences and leadership opportunities. Whereas 65% anticipate majoring in some field of music, no fewer than 18% are specifically considering a career in music education. These students reported significantly greater involvement in summer music camps and musical leadership opportunities. Comments—both positive and negative—concerning the music education field reveal further differences between those interested and not interested in music education as a potential career path.