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socio-cultural Issues

Sofia Ashraf: Social justice through music

Thanks to a post by Jay Smooth, I just learned of Sofia Ashraf, who uses the power of music to address critical issues facing the people of India such as reinterpreting Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda to address environmental justice in Tamil Nadu, India. Check out Kodikanal Won’t: Given that Ashraf’s Kodikanal Won’t is part of a larger environmental justice campaign, she is receiving some mainstream media attention, such as a recent New York Times article by Robert Mackey. Yet, music educators and… Read More »Sofia Ashraf: Social justice through music

Musical, community, and political leaders: FM Supreme working towards justice in Chicago

Music educators often discuss how musical engagement provides multiple opportunities for leadership. This week, Chicago musician Jessica Disu AKA FM Supreme is leading a youth-oriented peace and justice initiative “The Chicago International Youth Peace Movement.” According to a dedicated eventbrite site: “The goal of the first annual Chicago International Youth Peace Movement Conference, June 4th-6th, 2015 is to mobilize, activate and empower youth and young people, in grades 5th-12th  to organize and utilize their voices for peace and social change.”… Read More »Musical, community, and political leaders: FM Supreme working towards justice in Chicago

Solo, multitrack, mute? Producing and performing (gender) in a popular music classroom

Tobias, E. S. (2014). Solo, multitrack, mute? Producing and performing (gender) in a popular music classroom. Visions of Research in Music Education, 25, 1-29. My article Solo, multitrack, mute? Producing and performing (gender) in a popular music classroom is now published in Visions of Research in Music Education (VRME). For those unfamiliar with VRME, it is an open-access journal, which means that all articles are available for free on the journal’s website. An earlier version of this article was presented… Read More »Solo, multitrack, mute? Producing and performing (gender) in a popular music classroom

Promising practices in 21st-century music teacher education and 21st-century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture

Tobias, E. S. (2014). 21st century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture. In M. Kaschub and J. Smith (Eds.), Promising practices in 21st century music teacher education. Oxford: Oxford University Press (pp. 205-226) Congratulations to Michele Kaschub and Jan Smith for another excellent edited book Promising practices in 21st century music teacher education. I feel privileged to be among a set of wonderful people and great thinkers in music education, discussing potential transformation in music teacher education and schools of… Read More »Promising practices in 21st-century music teacher education and 21st-century musicianship through digital media and participatory culture

Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson

A little over a year ago I wrote about Music, expression, and responding to current events in relation to Trayvon Martin. Perhaps it’s the musician side of me but whenever tragedies occur, I often wonder about the ways people use music to mediate their feelings, perspectives, and make meaning of the situation. It should be no surprise that musicians are already responding musically to the tragic killing of Michael Brown and ensuing situation in Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not sure how… Read More »Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson