Breaking down silos: diverse voices shaped the IN.TUNE university alliance’s first research event
The IN.TUNE alliance of eight universities organised the first Annual IN.TUNE Research in Education Event, AIRE 2025, in Vienna this November. Postdoctoral researcher Dr Assi Karttunen and doctoral researcher Johanna Lehtinen-Schnabel represented the Sibelius Academy at the event. They returned home feeling inspired and enriched by new ideas and connections made.
Both women work at the intersection where art and academic research meet – and, at times, merge. Even though their research approaches differ, they have found a shared voice for exploring the overlap between artistry, research and pedagogical expertise.
Artistic research often springs from practice
Karttunen and Lehtinen-Schnabel were invited to present their research projects as part of the AIRE programme.
“We were probably asked to contribute because our work navigates the intersection between art and research – an area that IN.TUNE seeks to explore and develop,” explains Lehtinen-Schnabel.
Karttunen presented her artist–pedagogical research conducted within the Research Council of Finland’s Profi 6 project. Her work examines the qualities of intersubjectivity and how their diversity enriches both the musician’s and the educator’s practice.
“Music is an immensely powerful intersubjective space. We should be more aware of how it breaks down silos that exist in relation to people, research approaches as well as languages and emotional states. It’s an extraordinarily potent pedagogical tool.”
Lehtinen-Schnabel’s doctoral research examines how choral singing can support language learning and how language-aware choral practices can reshape both thinking and pedagogy. In Vienna, she actually made the whole audience participate in her presentation.
“I got everyone to improvise, completely on the spot,” she laughs. “At the end of a long day, it felt necessary – and it was also a reminder that at the heart of both research and art lie action, interaction and presence.”
AIRE offered an intensive programme, with presentations following one another at a brisk pace. The wide range of topics and perspectives sparked ideas and reflection. Both Karttunen and Lehtinen-Schnabel emphasise the diverse range of views heard at the event: artists, researchers, educators and scholars all shared their insights side by side.
“It was quite different from a traditional conference, where people are usually gathered to discuss more similar topics,” Lehtinen-Schnabel notes.
Artistic research is not just about an individual’s artistic expressions
Karttunen stresses that artistic research is not merely a matter of feeling or going with the flow – it is framed by robust theoretical and methodological principles.
“The performative, embodied and material turns are examples of paradigms that make artistic research methodologically rigorous. A concert alone is not research unless it is accompanied by reflection and articulation of what new knowledge emerges from it.”
The first AIRE event highlighted the different stages of research development across the alliance’s universities, and how dialogue can foster a shared understanding of the role of research within arts universities.
In artistic and cross-disciplinary research, Karttunen and Lehtinen-Schnabel see a significant role for both the Sibelius Academy and Uniarts Helsinki as a whole.
“In many respects, our institution has come a long way – and we have the courage to challenge the status quo and think differently,” says Lehtinen-Schnabel.
Karttunen adds that this position has not come about by chance: practice-based artistic research in Finland has gained ground thanks to long-term, dedicated work.
Insights and connections
One of the event’s key takeaways was how music can break down artificial barriers and create connections between people.
“Art doesn’t live in its own bubble – it must engage in dialogue with the world. Research related to artistic practice can look outward, take responsibility and be a part of social discourse,” Lehtinen-Schnabel observes.
Both researchers see great potential in the IN.TUNE alliance. International networks, intercultural interaction and chances to share new knowledge with others can lead to innovative forms of collaboration and research initiatives.
Artistic research is on a solid footing in a changing world
In a turbulent world, artistic research can offer tools for understanding and shaping changes. It can challenge and renew people’s ways of thinking. For both Lehtinen-Schnabel and Karttunen, the AIRE event was an opportunity to share experiences and to come up with new ideas for the future.
“Research in and through the arts and research in arts education can equip us to act in an increasingly diverse world – not only technically, but also humanly and communally. We need thinking that dares to be creative and multi-voiced,” says Lehtinen-Schnabel.
IN.TUNE is the first European alliance uniting eight universities in the field of music and the arts. Together, they aim to enhance the quality, impact and international competitiveness of arts education and research in the long term. The European Commission has granted IN.TUNE funding for 2024–2027. The first Annual IN.TUNE Research in Education Event AIRE was organised in Vienna, Austria, on 3-4 November 2015. Read more about the IN.TUNE university alliance.