Debate: Included or Excluded in Higher Music Education – Who Gets to Play?

Sidsel Karlsen began by giving a research-based insight into who is included and excluded in Higher Music Education (HME). Aleksander Årnes Madsen's thesis from 2013 shows that seven out of 10 students in HME have resourceful parents with high educational capital, while Anders Vassenden and Nils Asle Bergsgard's study from 2012 found that immigrant groups are underrepresented in cultural life in general and in higher music education.

- And can anyone guess when the first doctoral thesis on punk was written? In 2012, long after punk was dead and buried, Karlsen said, as an example of how HME and music academia are often late in absorbing popular cultural currents.

With a drawing of an hourglass-like funnel, Karlsen illustrated the journey that students in HME often take - from musical breadth in the form of culture and upper secondary schools via NMH's narrow specialization in the middle, to the breadth expected in working life afterwards.

- The graphic presentation is exactly as it looks in my head, stated Brekken, bassist and former NMH student.

- You come here from a music life where you are happy to be a "potato", and you are going into the funnel where you only have to do what the study programme set you up for. I thought I was going to play a lot with the people I studied with after my studies, but I found that everyone disappeared. Some started with hip-hop, some with free jazz, others with TV work. When I now meet people who have attended the music studies, they are often in completely different parts of the industry, said Brekken.

The statement garnered recognition from Salvesen, a master's student in classical singing at NMH.

- I don't know if it lies in my expectations of the school or vice versa, but there is a thought about what is accepted in doing and playing when you go here. For me, it caused me to lose myself a little in the music I was making. I think many people feel it, and that it may be the reason why you suddenly fly off into a lot of other things afterwards.

Who gets admission to performing music studies at NMH is decided through auditions. Viola teacher Carlsen pointed out that many of his students want a job in a symphony orchestra, and that today's auditions are relevant in that respect. At the same time, he opened up about incorporating personality tests into the audition in order to better map the individual's self-discipline and desire to be safe.

- Are you getting the people you want?

Moderator Sætre directed the question to percussion teacher Waring.

- I don't know which students I want, what they will do or what world they will enter. But we look for motivation, people who want something and who have the talent to develop. We also look for a willingness to express oneself through music and basic skills, Waring said.

He explained how the second round of auditions for percussionists consists of an interview, where the individual is asked about their musical background, experiences, interests outside of music, general interest in art, dreams, why they want to go to NMH and what is plan B if they do not get in - this is to get the most comprehensive picture possible of each candidate.

NMH Rector Tornquist referred to Karlsen's hourglass graphic as a "correct presentation", where NMH represents a condensed specialisation.

- But is it the case that we favor our own?, he asked rhetorically and pointed to entrance lists with recognizable surnames from the music scene, including his own son.

Tornquist gave the following explanation for the tendency:

- Young people who have parents or others in the family who have made that journey themselves dare to do it themselves, to take a music education. There is a kind of role understanding in the fact that it is possible to invest in a music career, said Tornquist, and described the auditions as a good and thorough alternative to how it is done in higher education, where admission is only based on grades.

- Is it a problem that the applicant group is predictable and that certain genres and social groups are underrepresented in higher music education? Should the goal be for all of these to be included in higher music education?

Moderator Sætre let the questions hang in the air.

- It seems that we take it for granted that being inside is best. I've never seen it that way, Waring said, pointing out that higher music education is not necessarily for all musicians.

He also questioned Karlsen's hourglass funnel, and told how he himself experienced that the funnel opened up when he began his music education and discovered new possibilities within his instrument.

- This is an elite institution, that is something to be proud of, said Nystrøm, saxophonist, composer and teacher of contemporary improvisation at NMH.

He emphasized the teachers' responsibility in making each student aware of their own artistic agenda. During the debate, he also called for a greater focus on artistic and critical subjects rather than business related subjects, which he feels current music education is directed towards.

- No one wants auditions to end, that they are exclusionary is the whole point, Habbestad pointed out.

At the same time, he referred to situations where some who have auditioned at NMH have not been successful because they have been perceived as difficult to teach - the studies are not tailored to their abilities and needs.

- We have to take that seriously, said Habbestad, and cited an example from the conservatory in Amsterdam where he himself did his diploma studies. Here they accepted 15 percent more students in the first year, and then they got rid of 15 percent in the second year. In this way, the first year became a kind of extended entrance exam, which gave both teachers and students the opportunity to test their suitability.

- The alternative is to take people in, keep them for four years and see that they get bad grades because no one has said, you are a great guy, but this is not for you, said Habbestad.

After just over an hour, there were more questions than answers, which Karlsen reflected in her summary:

- We want to be an elite institution, so we have to get hold of the best. So we must continue to debate, the best in what? As Rolf-Erik said, we need to foster a culture of critical thinking, I will take that question with me - how do we foster a culture of critical thinking in practices that can occasionally be perceived as conservative, even if we are not a conservatoire? And finally, can we imagine having different auditions for different types of studies?