Professor publishes results of European research project

“'Music, power relations, and beyond' is the final scientific documentation of PRIhME. Together with my colleagues Christa Brüstle, Lucia Di Cecca, Itziar Larrinaga, Mojca Piškor and Eva Sæther, we have brought together current academic contributions and reflections on power and power relations at conservatoires in Europe. The book is unique in that it addresses the topic from the perspective of conservatoires at European level. We hope that by reading it, many of these institutions will critically question their processes,” says Prof. Dr. David-Emil Wickström.

The project was funded by Erasmus+ and ran from 2020 to 2023. As the main body, a 50-member PRIhME stakeholder assembly dealt with various topics relating to power relations at conservatoires in four meetings. The project was hosted by the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC). The AEC is the European network of conservatoires. PRIhME posed the question of unequal power relations in higher music education and how these can affect our culture and learning and working environment. The aim was and is to develop a safe and sustainable space in which creative and socially engaged artists can be trained through recommendations for action.
PRIhME dealt with the following topics: Power relations in music education, sexual orientation and gender, socio-economic background and disability, and artistic standards. The structure of the book reflects the overarching themes of the four meetings. In addition to the expert reports on the respective assemblies, each part of the anthology contains contributions that shed light on different aspects of power relations from the perspectives of students, teachers, musicians and leaders.

By combining different perspectives, each section can be used not only for teaching and academic research, but also to contextualize discussions between faculty and staff - and thus influence policy decisions within individual institutions and professional associations on a national or even international level. The anthology is intended to stimulate discussion and enable all those involved to reflect critically and address issues of power in their institutions.

Prof. Dr. David-Emil Wickström studied musicology, ethnomusicology and Scandinavian studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Bergen (Norway). Following field research in St. Petersburg, he was employed at the University of Copenhagen. He completed his doctorate at the University of Copenhagen in 2009 with a thesis on popular music in St. Petersburg and the German-Austrian Russian disco scene. His current research interests include questions of music and conflict using the example of the Russia-Ukraine war, music and protest in Belarus and power relations at music academies.

More information on the research results 2023:
https://www.popakademie.de/de/presse/popakademie-professor-schliesst-europaeisches-projekt-ueber-machtverhaeltnissen/u/1303/?q=0

To the book, free download:
https://musikene.eus/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/MUSIC-POWER-RELATIONS-AND-BEYOND.pdf