Music Organizations Research Articles

A Training Program for Evaluating Chinese Music Instructors’ Leadership Competencies in Universities in Chongqing, China

Background and Aims: The need for effective leadership within Chinese music education departments in Chongqing universities. This program likely aims to develop and assess leadership competencies specific to the unique context of Chinese music instruction, aligning with broader goals of enhancing educational quality and organizational effectiveness in higher education institutions. This study investigates leadership competencies among music instructors in higher education in Chongqing, China, utilizing a multi-institutional cross-sectional approach to discern the current and desired leadership competencies essential for effective music education. Methodology: By applying the Priority Needs Index (PNI) analysis, the research identifies exemplary pedagogical performance and collaborative teaching as pivotal areas that necessitate development to meet the evolving demands of music education. Results: The findings emphasize a significant inclination towards student-centered educational paradigms, highlighting the importance of creativity, emotional intelligence, and collaboration in contemporary music education. This shift underscores the necessity for pedagogical evolution and integrating innovative teaching methodologies. By pinpointing key leadership competencies and underscoring the critical role of professional development, this study contributes to the broader dialogue on enhancing music education in China. Actionable recommendations include the development of courses integrating leadership and innovation skills, establishing professional development programs emphasizing student-centered methodologies, and forming strategic partnerships with music organizations to expose educators and students to real-world leadership scenarios. These initiatives aim to foster a culture of innovation and adaptability, ensuring music education aligns with the demands of the 21st-century music profession. The study contributes to the ongoing conversation on enhancing music education leadership in Chinese higher education, providing insights for pedagogical advancement and professional development. Conclusion: The study emphasizes a move in music education toward student-centered methods and promotes the blending of creativity, emotional intelligence, and teamwork. By delineating fundamental leadership skills and promoting career advancement, it provides practical suggestions for promoting creativity and flexibility, enhancing the conversation about enhancing music education leadership in Chinese higher education.

Does experience of music enhance olfaction: music as a potential nutrition intervention?

Olfaction, the sense of smell, is under recognised and underappreciated despite being vital in wellbeing. It confers a major influence on the feeding process being the major contributor of flavour and has a direct involvement in the cephalic phase responses. Along with its influence on food and nutrition, olfaction is directly associated with cognitive function and impacts social communication and safety(1). Loss of olfactory acuity, commonly occurring in aging and frailty, significantly influences dietary behaviour and food selection(2). Unlike the senses of vision and audition, interventions are lacking. We propose in a proof-of-concept that crossmodal integration of olfaction and audition could inhibit olfactory decline in lifelong musicians through encouraging neuroplasticity of the olfactory brain centres. Ethical approval was obtained from The University of Adelaide Human Research Ethics Committee. Male musicians with a lifetime experience of music (ME) and naïve non-musicians (NM) aged 55 years and over were recruited through music organisations and controls through the Australian Men’s Shed network. The initial target sample size was twenty per cohort. Olfactory acuity was assessed with Sniffin’ sticks® (Odofin, Groningen, The Netherlands), a well validated system of a battery of three tests regimes. Sniffin’ sticks represent ‘felt tipped pens’ impregnated with odourants presented 20mm below the nose of participants who were then prompted to ‘sniff’. Assays determined participant ‘Threshold’, ‘Discrimination’ and ‘Identification’ of test odours (3). Measurement of Threshold and Discrimination were undertaken in triplet fifteen seconds apart with eyes closed; measurement of Threshold being conducted in an ascending ‘staircase’ to detect lowest odour concentration detectable, whereas measurement of Discrimination selected the ‘odd-man-out’ of a triplet comprising two identical and one different odour. Measurement of Identification, with eyes open, selected the odour of a single ‘pen’ from a prompt list of four. All tests demanded selection. Each of the test batteries were scored out of sixteen along with total aggregate of Threshold, Discrimination, and Identification (TDI). Twenty-six participants completed the study (18 ME and 8 NM); numbers were limited owing to active COVID-19. Mean and standard deviations (SD) of Threshold, Discrimination, Identification and TDI were derived and compared between groups using ‘t’-test. For ME, Threshold, Discrimination, and Identification values were 6.2 (SD ± 3.7), 10.6 (SD ± 1.9), and 12.9 (SD ± 1.6). The respective values for NM were 5.0 (SD ± 2.3), 8.8(SD ± 2.9), and 10.8 (SD ± 2.5). The ME group showed a significantly higher Discrimination (p = 0.164). Significant differences were not seen for Threshold, Identification, and overall TDI scores, however the small sample size may have accounted for this. Based on this proof-of-concept, further exploration of music is warranted as an intervention to enhance olfactory acuity to potentially improve the intake of food and nutrition, and enrich pleasure of eating and drinking, and quality of life.

국립민족예술단과 북한의 민족음악

This article aims to enhance understanding of the National Folk Art Center (hereafter, the Center) through dividing its 75-year history and activities into three periods, and to review the trend of changes in North Korean national music, From 1947 to 1965, the Center had been reorganized as the Joseon Classical Music Research Institute, the Classical Orchestra directly under the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda, the Hyeopryuldan within the National Arts Theater, the Classical Orchestra under the direct control of the National Arts Theater, the National Classical Arts Theater, and then National Folk Arts Theater. During this period, traditional music capabilities such as changgeuk (Korean opera derived from pansori) and instrumental performances of Korean traditional musician who crossed the border to North Korea had a great impact on the North Korean music scene.
 From 1965 to 1992, the Center had been renamed as the National Folk Opera Theater, the Pyongyang Art Organization, the Moranbong Art Organization, and then the Pyongyang Art Organization; the content of activities had changed. At this time, the pibada ('Sea of Blood') style of national opera was established, and the comprehensive music and dance performances were vitalized while many folk dance and national dance works were created.
 Since 1992, when the Center worked as a National Folk Art Center, it has created and performed works such as national operas, folk dance suites, and national songs and dances. Since the 2000s, the Center focused on creating large-scale art performances together collaborating with various music organizations, rather than solo performances. After the Kim Jong Un era, the Center has been pursuing activities as an independent organization.
 Through the activities from the Joseon Classical Music Research Institute to the National Folk Art Center, we can get a glimpse of the way in which the modern transformations of national music were realized in North Korea, and confirm that the activities of those who crossed the border to North Korea were at the base. The activities and roles they played in North Korea serve as a point of contact for South and North Korea to confirm their traditional musical culture and national identity.

Music in the Third Reich

Music played a prominent role in the formation of Nazi culture in Germany and was widely used in propaganda and indoctrination throughout the country; the Nazi party combined music and politics and sought to shape their ideal culture by elevating their ideas of pure music to the highest status and outlawing what they defined as inferior. The translation of the scholarly article examines Hitler’s specific views on music and explores some of the factors and personalities that contributed to his views and were directly rooted in the Nazi party, as well as how the Nazis used music to spread their propaganda, what was considered ‘pure’ music, and what influence the idea of ‘pure’ art had on Jewish musicians and composers. Hitler considered himself an artist and believed that art and music were a vital part of life and culture. He was deeply influenced by both Wagner’s views and his music, and Hitler saw many parallels between Wagner’s conception of Germany and the stories the composer used in his operas. The Nazi Party used music to a great extent to reinforce its political activities and indoctrinate individual citizens. Not only music, but Nazi doctrine played a significant role in the fate of Jewish composers and performers and was used to portray Nazi ideology. Many Jewish musicians lost their jobs and were excluded from major cultural and musical organizations. Arnold Schoenberg is a prime example of the influence of Nazi ideology on the music and perception of a Jewish composer, and Wagner is a perfect example of a composer who conformed to Nazi criteria of pure Aryanism. This study attempts to examine these historical facts in an attempt to promote a better understanding of the socio-cultural aspects of the Third Reich in the hope that an informed person will ensure that such views never penetrate society again.

Towards an Understanding of Outreach and Identity: Professional Opera Singers’ Perspectives of Definitions, Value, and Status of Outreach

The growth of outreach work in classical music organisations over the last few decades has cemented its place as a fundamental part of such organisations’ output. In doing so, it has also created a different mode of professional work for artists. However, tensions exist within the terminology that is used to describe outreach work, and in the terminology used to differentiate outreach from what is seen as the main artistic output (often performance). Academic discussion on outreach programmes has often been framed in terms of numbers, demographics, and experiences in relation to the audience. By contrast, comparatively little research exists into the experiences of, and impact for, the artists who engage in outreach work as part of their professional careers, and even less in relation to the singer. This small-scale qualitative study explored the lived experience of professional singers engaged in opera outreach work in relation to language (terminology) and perceptions of identity and status. Its aims are to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of professional opera singers within this specific professional world and offer insight around the tensions in terminology in relation to their identity (professional or subjective) and status. Findings suggest there is a lack of clarity around the definition of what outreach work is, both by those inside and outside the industry. Furthermore, this lack of clarity impacts the identity and status of those singers working in opera outreach.

Defining in the doing: listening and reflecting in a community–university collaboration

Defining in the doing is an approach developed by the Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) at the University of Brighton, UK. It prioritises action and recognises the importance of practice in developing partnerships, drawing from both academic and practitioner principles in community development, community-based research and theories of social learning. This article will draw on this approach to reflect on a community–university collaboration, sustained during the Covid-19 global pandemic, between a community music organisation, a sound archive project and a doctoral researcher. Between 2019 and 2022, these practitioners brought together their expertise in sound heritage, music making, listening and sound methods, and community engagement to deliver three interlinked projects: Sounds to Keep, Sound Mosaics and Remix the Archive (RiTA). This partnership created mutual benefits by bringing together practitioner and academic knowledge and experiences. Through shared reflections, we draw out in this article the ways that the pandemic generated difficult working conditions, while also opening up space for creativity, flexibility and curiosity. But we also highlight how a defining in the doing approach is not commonly supported by the funding and administrative conditions within which we work.

Preparing for the Next Leadership Position, Part 3: The Campus Interview

Preparing for the Next Leadership Position, Part 3: The Campus Interview

On the Benefits of a Paradigm Shift in Community Music Organisation in an Epidemic Context

Covid-19 has been traumatic for the arts and culture sector since it became popular. In the community music area, many face-to-face activities have been disrupted as a result.This article will explore the impact of Covid-19 on the cultural and arts sector through several examples and the need for an organisational paradigm shift in community music in light of this impact, with a view to informing the future development of community music.

COLLABORATIVE COMPOSITION IN A HYPERLOCAL ENVIRONMENT

AbstractThis article explores ways in which compositional methods can respond to and articulate the specificity of localness, interrogating ideas of place, identity, collaboration and the local through an examination of the methods used by professional Birmingham composers to open out aspects of their compositional approach to the wider community. I share my findings from for-Wards, an ambitious public music project: an artistic collaboration between myself, ten professional Birmingham composers, nine music organisations and residents from Birmingham to create a musical ode to the city. Non-conventional compositional approaches became instrumental in the development of this innovative project, documenting the experience of the local within an ambitious citywide collaboration. The article considers the for-Wards project's background, notions of the hyperlocal, the artistic team, ideas relating to authorship, the compositional framework and collaborative challenges. The article considers the collaborative compositional methods employed by the for-Wards composers to examine the local, including local histories and their playful variants, field recordings, environmental vocalisations and the visualisation of the local.

Social fabric: damage and reconstruction on the basis of a collective music program

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to understand the changes in the social fabric of victims of forced displacement in Colombia as a result of these events, as well as the contributions of belonging to a collective musical program in reconstructing the social fabric of the participants. In Latin America, the metaphor of social fabric is used to represent the web of social relations that shape society. A five-year doctoral investigation sought to understand the changes in the social fabric of victims of forced displacement in Colombia resulting from these events, as well as the contributions of belonging to a collective musical program in reconstructing the social fabric of the participants. The study was undertaken using a qualitative approach and simple statistics, with which were analyzed 14 life stories and 70 sound postcards across seven families, who were victims of violence and belonged to the musical program in question. The research identified as key elements of the social fabric: networks, cohesive or divisive tangible resources, precarious or sufficient tangible resources, the experiences.Design/methodology/approachThis research had a qualitative, ethnographic and narrative approach. It was developed through life stories with sound postcards and semi-structured interviews. The research participants were 14 people from families in the program studied and 10 teachers from the same program. The fieldwork was carried out over a period of six months in four cities in Colombia, taking four to five weeks in each city. In addition to the above, documents of the organization studied were reviewed.FindingsThis paper shows the impacts on the social fabric of the participants in terms of the negative impact on their family and social networks, as well as the emergence after forced displacement of divisive intangible resources associated with distrust of self, others and society. Collective musical spaces help to break the sense of anonymity and isolation by creating new networks through which cohesive intangible resources circulate, helping participants to regain confidence in themselves and others through temporary musical identity and peaceful identity.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this research relate to being a case study in Colombia. Although this is a national program and the study has been carried out in four different cities in the country, it is not possible to generalize. However, it is possible that in the future it will be possible to contrast the findings with the processes developed with similar organizations working in music for social construction.Practical implicationsThe results of this research have practical implications insofar as they can help to better understand the elements that make up the social fabric, the impacts of violence for families who have experienced it and the paths to recovery. Particularly for music organizations with social objectives, it can help to better understand their social impact. In that sense, it allows strategic elements of the organizations to be adjusted so that their social objectives are better met.Social implicationsThe social implications are related to the responsibility of organizations that work with victims of the armed conflict to understand the impact of violence on these people, as this understanding allows them to generate appropriate strategies of care. Particularly, for artistic organizations, and in this case, musical organizations, to understand how their action can collaborate in the recovery of people.Originality/valueAlthough the term social fabric is widely used in Latin American literature, there are few studies that clarify the concept and its application in concrete social situations. This research managed to define the specific elements of the concept and to approach the affectation of these elements by violence. Likewise, the research manages to show some ways for the recovery of the social fabric of the victims owing to their participation in the collective musical space.

A new typology of community music groups

In this article, we offer, through a new typology, a way to portray and understand the diversity of community music’s organizational foundations and purposes. Typologies are a common descriptive and interpretive device for understanding patterns of activity. Some researchers of community music have, explicitly or implicitly, developed a number of typologies of community music organizations. Our new typology is systematically aligned to capture the social and musical variability among community music organizations. It then puts the typology to work by providing brief examples, drawn from Australian research, of each of its proposed types. This new typology is intended to allow researchers and practitioners to understand how different community music ensembles are similar or dissimilar, and make comparative discussions clearer and more systematic, offering give a clear frame for understanding present and possible future community music-making groups and organizations.

Assessing accessibility: an instrumental case study of a community music group

ABSTRACT Creating accessible events is a pressing issue for many music organisations. In the United States, the term accessibility has strong ties to disability, and it is an important concept because what is deemed accessible directly impacts who is included and excluded from music experiences. Music Community Lab (MCL) runs a series of events in New York City called Monthly Music Hackathon NYC. They aim to promote ‘diversity across backgrounds, perspectives, and abilities’. This instrumental case study sought to examine how MCL participants conceptualise accessibility as well as analyze participants’ suggestions for improving the accessibility of MCL events. Sixty-two people who attended one of three MCL events completed a demographic survey and 57 of those respondents participated in an interview. Findings reveal that 63% (n = 36) of participants associated accessibility with inclusivity and 35% (n = 20) of participants associated accessibility with ease of access to resources, places, and experiences. Participants’ suggestions for improving accessibility included social media marketing (n = 23; 40%) and ease of access approaches (n = 11; 19%) including CART, ASL, and live streaming events. Accessibility is challenging for community music groups like MCL to navigate because it is a complex construct with varied interpretations.

Domestic and foreign contexts of Czech music education

This study focuses on significant historical events in the context of music education at public schools from the 1930s to the present. It characterizes music education since the founding of the Society for Music Education in the Czechoslovak Republic in 1934, clarifies the circumstances of establishing the International Society for Music Education (ISME) rooted in Prague, and deals with the state of music education during World War II. The article focuses on the most critical post-war events, on integrating progressive systems into general music education (Orff’s Schulwerk) in the 1960s and 1980s, and on poly-esthetic and integrative music pedagogy in the 1990s the last century. Regarding this study, the author applies his personal experience and knowledge gained from many years of working for European music organizations. Within this article, the author also evaluates important conferences and activities of the Visegrád Music Team, characterizes the current state and main theses of further development of music education, and personally contributes to them with his suggestions. This study is based on some hitherto unknown sources obtained from a few significant personalities.

Music centers of Chernihiv-Siversky region: names, events, creative teams, repertoire (to the 100th anniversary of the M. D. Leontovich Music Society)

The study of music centers of Chernihiv-Siversky region in the context of the leading musical and public organization of the Ukrainian Renaissance – M. D. Leontovych Music Society (1921–1931) – opens wide opportunities for scientific research of hitherto unknown pages of the history of musical culture of Ukraine in XX century. Although the emergence of music centers in this period was due to a certain historical event and created in these lands after the tragic news on the death of the famous composer Mykola Leontovych, this process began long time before they received legal status as the members of the Society as its Chernihiv and Pryluky branches. Establishment of the branches of the Leontovych Society was associated with increasing the level of musical culture of the republic and was aimed to organize the process of unification of the Ukrainian people around the idea of national revival. All members of the Leontovych Society (not only the Pryluky and Chernihiv branches) had a responsible mission to be pioneers and reformers of musical culture in cities and villages, which at the time of the formation of the new Soviet art appeared to be the most important and difficult task. and coordinated work of each member of Leontovych Society, at the beginning of 1927 as its parts throughout Ukraine it was opened, registered and operated 69 branches and music centers, including about 930 members and 1013 musical organizations consisting of professional musicians and amateurs, who presented the school and student, peasant and workers’ choirs and ensembles, the chamber, brass, folk orchestras, etc. The history of the Leontovych Society’s activity turned out to be a kind of challenge to fate and a conscious putting on the altar of building the musical culture of Soviet Ukraine of the best human abilities, knowledge and strength, which became an unsurpassed example of the civic service to its people. The archival heritage of the Music Society named after MD Leontovych, preserved in the Fund № 50 of the Manuscript Institute of the National Library of Ukraine named after VI Vernadsky, was and is a unique document of Ukrainian history, which will forever remain for descendants an exclusive source of the information national past of Ukraine in many spheres of science, art and culture as a spiritual monument of our country.

Review essay: Between the Material and the Ephemeral

Review essay: Between the Material and the Ephemeral

Measurements and simulations of aerosol released while singing and playing wind instruments

Outbreaks from choirs showed that singing brings potential risk of COVID-19 infection. There is less known about the risks of airborne infection from other musical performance, such as playing wind instruments or performing theatre. In addition, it is important to understand methods to reduce infection risk. In this study, we used a variety of methods, including flow visualization, aerosol and CO2 measurements, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to understand the different components that can lead to transmission risk from musical performance and risk mitigation. This study was possible because of a partnership across academic departments and institutions and collaboration with the National Federation of State High School Associations and the College Band Directors National Association. Funding for this project was provided by an international coalition of music organizations. We found that plumes from musical performance were highly directional, unsteady, and vary considerably in time and space. Aerosol number concentration measured at the bell of the clarinet were comparable to singing. Face and bell masks attenuated plume velocities and lengths and decreased aerosol concentrations measured in front of the masks. CFD modeling showed differences between indoor and outdoor environments and that lowest risk of airborne COVID-19 infection occurred at less than 30 min of exposure indoors and less than 60 minutes outdoors.

Documenting ‘The Early Childhood Music Collaborative’: A multi-organizational response to early childhood music in the time of COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting countries around the globe in the early months of 2020, music education professional organizations in locations worldwide mobilized to provide remote teaching suggestions and interpret new research related to minimizing the virus spread in music-making settings. In June and July 2020, the National Association for Music Education released a set of research-based recommendations for music teaching in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion of young children and recommendations for early childhood settings were noticeably absent. The purpose of this article is to document the processes by which several dozen individuals and representatives from three professional entities came together at the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to address the lack of guidance for responsive early childhood music education. We describe the outcomes of the collaboration between June 2020 and June 2021, reflections about our learning and share the group’s next steps. As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, reading documentation of our collective might serve the profession and encourage international collaborative teams working to improve access and equity of early childhood music education.

My Development as a Composer

In this article author recounts how he became a composer, who were his teachers, what educational institutions he studied in, where he worked, how he developed his individual musical style and his ideas about music, and also describes what these ideas are. He also describes the context of living and working in New York City and the musical organizations he has worked with and for from the late 1960s to the present.

Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788–1865 by Billy Coleman

Reviewed by: Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788–1865 by Billy Coleman Todd Estes Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788–1865. By Billy Coleman. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Pp. xviii, 249. Paper, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-4696-5887-2; cloth, $95.00, ISBN 978-1-4696-5886-5.) Scholars have found political culture—campaigns, debates, parades, fashion, food, protests, symbols, and music—to be an enormously valuable tool for studying the myriad dimensions of the past that both reflected and shaped politics. Billy Coleman's Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788–1865 uses music to demonstrate how "the practices of popular politics were often designed consciously from above in the interests of serving, rather than challenging, established elite power" (p. 5). This process began with the Constitution, and Federalists in the 1790s "may bear more responsibility for the rise of popular American political culture than commonly thought" (p. 9). In a fascinating chapter on the politicization of the "Star-Spangled Banner," Coleman shows that as Federalists began governing, they hoped to make the nascent republic "both better and distant from all that had come before it. . . . [U]nity was the precondition for achieving their postcolonial dreams" (p. 18). Similarly, in the famous 1840 presidential campaign, Whigs used campaign songs less to energize voters than to rein in and control the work of active campaign participants. In turn, Democrats in 1840 did not criticize the Whigs' use of music but denounced instead "the supposed hypocrisy of a party whose use of campaign songs betrayed . . . a preference for improving the people rather than submitting to their will" (p. 10). Coleman ably underscores the point that "[c]ombinations of music and politics often ended up supporting the thoroughly conservative objectives of Americans who valued order and unity at a time of expanding democracy and deepening sectional tensions" (p. 161). In short, "harnessing harmony could also mean preserving privilege" (p. 163). Harnessing Harmony's first chapter examines the Federalist musical tradition through the War of 1812, while the third chapter is a riveting, nuanced account of the 1840 presidential election. The second and fourth chapters focus [End Page 518] on musical organizations and on the aesthetic influence of music in the life of one man, S. Willard Saxon, as seen through his diary. But the even-numbered chapters neither land as effectively nor feel as significant as their odd-numbered counterparts. This uneven quality is exacerbated by the book's episodic treatment of events from 1788 to 1865, resulting in thin coverage and in a work whose efforts to address broad, expansively conceived topics are underdeveloped. Its brevity (only 163 pages of text) also frustrates the attempts to grapple fully with the important issues raised in the book's stimulating introduction, prologue, and conclusion. What was the role of music in political campaigns after 1815 and post-1840? What was the evolution of the Federalist/Democratic-Republican musical tradition in the rise of the second party system? If music played such a key role in 1840, what of the subsequent 1844 election, also a tense, significant, and divisive contest? Did music play a role for southern Whigs and Democrats as a part of their conservative defense of slavery? And what of those Federalist elites who turned away from politics to print, literature, and letters as exemplified in the scholarship of William C. Dowling and Marshall Foletta, whose studies of Federalist literary and educational culture could deepen the focus on Federalism? How did the Federalists' embrace of music as an agent of conservatism, harmony, and order track with the related project undertaken by Federalist writers and editors? Coleman also might have engaged more fully with recent scholarship by Liam Riordan, Rebeccah Bechtold, and Kirsten E. Wood to show how his work fits with theirs and to consider the state of the music history subfield to which his work is a significant addition. In short, Coleman has read widely and thought deeply about the provocative entanglements between music and political culture. But not all the potential results of his work and ruminations are fully realized in...

Music Education for “Musically Talented Children” in Japan: A Career Path Toward Professionals and Three Music Education Organizations

Japan has been one of the leading countries in Asia, where many world-class music professionals are continually produced. As an insider, the author has witnessed and experienced how “musically talented children” are raised in Japan for more than three decades. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to articulate the career path for becoming professional classical musicians from infants through college period. The findings are four folds: (1) piano is the most popular instrument, to begin with from early age, (2) most young children participate in music competitions, (3) there are three critical periods when young children have to decide whether they continue to study music or quit, (4) Two music universities, the Tōhō Gakuen Music School and the Tokyo National University of the Arts are the top schools in producing professional musicians, particularly in the piano, the violin, and the composition fields. In addition, the systems of three notable music education organizations, the Suzuki Methods, the TōhōMusic School for Children, and the PTNA, are explained.