Embracing New Digital Technologies: Now and into the Future

Abstract

This article assesses the impact of new digital technologies on music education. It argues that music teachers have an obligation to understand and integrate the technologies that students bring into their classrooms. New digital technologies must be seen as instruments in their own right, and used to facilitate the development of knowledge and innovative approaches to exploring and understanding music among various emerging learning communities.

Musicians as “Makers in Society”: A Conceptual Foundation for Contemporary Professional Higher Music Education

“…With many musicians and music organisations confronting rapidly shifting professional landscapes (Tolmie, 2020 ), HMEIs have over the last 30 years increasingly been adapting elements of their programmes, recognising the need to support portfolio careers and to enhance employability (Gembris and Langner, 2005 ; Bennett and Hannan, 2008 ; Bennett, 2016 ; Munnelly, 2020 ). Initiatives have focused, for example, on education in creative and cultural entrepreneurship (European Association of Conservatoires, 2014 ; Amussen et al, 2016 ; Renew, 2019 ); decolonising curriculum, including greater diversity in composers, performers and teachers represented in performance, as well as more diverse musics and musical practises being studied (Myers, 2016 ; Avis, 2019 ; European Association of Conservatoires, 2020 ); promoting intercultural collaboration and learning through international exchange and partnership (Grant, 2018 ; Bartleet et al, 2020 ); and exploring digital technologies in creating content (Ruthmann and Hebert, 2012 ), engaging audiences (Tsiouslakis and Hytönen-Ng, 2016 ; Toelle and Sloboda, 2019 ), and opening up access to learning (Krebs, 2017 ; Merrick, 2018 ). Some institutions have begun to promote forms of artistic citizenship in their graduate outcomes, and to explore how to combine ongoing practical craft training with addressing major societal changes including both social and environmental issues (Sarath et al, 2014 ; Tregear et al, 2016 ; Grant, 2018 ; Angelo et al, 2019 ; Westerlund and Gaunt, 2021 ).…”

“…Rapid technological change has opened up new ways to create, learn and experience music, with network connectivity deeply affecting the ways in which we interact socially and musically (Waldron, 2018 ). Remixing tracks and social engagement with music via online platforms (Ruthmann and Hebert, 2012 ), or informal online instruction for learning instruments (Merrick, 2018 ), or experiencing music via VR systems that put the listener at the centre of an orchestra are commonplace. The generative possibilities of music making (in both familiar and novel ensemble formations) to help shape collective identities is gaining currency (Shelamay, 2011 ).…”