This open access edited collection shows how neoliberalism continues to shape higher music education institutions, curricula design and learning cultures, as well as the various ways of transitioning from education to work and the world of uncertainty and job insecurity currently being experienced by a younger generation of musicians. The book brings together empirical studies, activist voices, theoretical reflections and autoethnographic studies from a broad range of disciplines, work contexts and geographical regions. These contributions examine how race/ethnicity, gender and class pervade the creation, performance and teaching of music and create the context for the reproduction of social inequalities. They also illuminate the notions of employability, entrepreneurialism and meritocracy that underpin higher music education and the music labour markets in Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Hungary, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and China, and provide insights into the strategies used by musicians to manage their precarious working lives. Finally, this collection specifically highlights alternative pedagogical approaches and activist tactics for moving forward in the era of Black Lives Matter, #StopAsianHate and #MeToo.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Music Education, Learning Cultures and Employability, Rosa Reitsamer and Rainer Prokop (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria) Part I: The Neoliberal Conservatoire 1. Balancing Demand and Supply in Music Labour Markets: The Shifting Role of Italian Music Conservatories, Clementina Casula (University of Cagliari, Italy) 2. Marketing Conservatoire Education: The Employable White Musicians of European Classical Music, Ann Werner and Cecilia Ferm Almqvist (Södertörn University, Sweden) 3. From Music Higher Education to the Festival Stage: Questioning the Neoliberal Environments of Scottish Jazz, Sarah Raine (University College Dublin, Ireland) and Haftor Medbøe (Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland) 4. Facilitating Dreams, with a Sense of Reality: Employability in Dutch Higher Popular Music Education, Rick Everts, Pauwke Berkers and Erik Hitters (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) 5. On the Potential of Niche Markets: The Case of Bluegrass Music, Nate Olson (East Tennessee State University, USA) 6. From Merit to Engagement: Moving Music Education to the Next Phase, Mina Yang (Colburn School of Music, USA) Part II: Power Relations, Alternative Pedagogies and Activism 7. Classical Music After #MeToo: Is Music Higher Education a ‘Conducive Context’ for Sexual Misconduct?, Anna Bull (University of York, UK) 8. History, Narrative and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Music Conservatoire, Uchenna Ngwe (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance & Royal Academy of Music, UK) 9. Other Acts of Intervention through Hip-Hop Studies: Teaching and Reflecting, Fernando Orejuela (Indiana University Bloomington, USA) 10. Access and Technology in Music Education: Negotiating Neoliberalism During a Pandemic Within a Graduate Popular Music Pedagogies Course, Kyle Zavitz (McGill University, Canada), Rhiannon Simpson (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Ruth Wright (Western University, Canada) 11. The Surge Towards ‘Diversity’: Interest Convergence and Performative ‘Wokeness’ in Music Institutions, Juliet Hess (Michigan State University, USA) Part III: Transitions and Trajectories of Musicians 12. Negotiating Pedagogical Cultures: Adaptive Challenges Facing Music Education Graduates on Their Return to China, Elizabeth Haddon (University of York, UK) 13. Swedish Dance Music Scenes, Female Career Trajectories and the Neoliberal Shift, Anna Gavanas (Stockholm University, Sweden) 14. The Unstable Lightness of Rock Once Again: Careers, Trajectories and DIY Cultures in Portuguese Indie Rock, Paula Guerra (University of Porto, Portugal), Ana Oliveira (Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal) and Andy Bennett (Griffith University, Australia) 15. Music Therapy as Profession and Practice: The Shifting Interrelationship of Precarity and Entrepreneurialism, Simon Procter (Nordoff Robbins, UK) 16. Neoliberalism’s Others: Imperatives of Activism in Portland, Oregon, Elizabeth Gould (University of Toronto, Canada) Index
Rainer Prokop is a sociologist and Senior Scientist at the Department of Music Sociology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria. His research focuses on music labour markets, career trajectories of musicians, study-to-work transitions of classically trained musicians, the sociology of higher music education and valuation practices at higher music education institutions. Rosa Reitsamer is a sociologist and Professor at the Department of Music Sociology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria. Her research interests include the sociology of higher music education and music labour markets, valuation practices at higher music education institutions and intersectional perspectives on music, gender and social inequalities. In 2022, she received the Gabriele Possanner Austrian State Award for Gender Studies.
Reviews for Higher Music Education and Employability in a Neoliberal World
For readers who care about the ways in which neoliberalism undermines peoples’ creative justice in and through higher music education ethically and practically, this volume remains a critical acquisition. -- Antonio C. Cuyler, Professor of Music in Entrepreneurship and Leadership, University of Michigan, USA A crucially important volume, the book provides critical insights into both the learning cultures within higher music institutions and the transition from education to work in a neoliberal world. As such, this brilliant volume makes a vital contribution to how we think about the interplay between higher music education, inequalities, and neoliberalism. -- Christina Scharff, Reader in Gender, Media and Culture, King’s College London, UK An important volume for both higher music education and musicians. Properly considered and implemented, its contents could shape the future of both. -- Dawn Bennett, Assistant Provost and Director, Transformation CoLab, Bond University, Australia This book provides an important and timely examination of higher music education in the 21st century. Through focusing on the role that institutions play to both empower students and perpetuate inequalities, the contributing authors explore the possibilities and perils of higher music education in a culture dominated by neoliberalism. -- Bryan Powell, Associate Professor of Music Education and Music Technology, Montclair State University, USA
