Performing the Political: Public Pedagogy in Higher Music Education

Project introduction

The project will be conducted with international collaborators in the Nordic higher music education contexts and with students, teachers, and leaders at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Through participatory processes, the project will construct new practices for music professionalism and visions for responsible higher music education politics significant to society. 

The University of the Arts Helsinki Ethical Review Committee reviewed the ethical acceptability of this study on 23.10.2023.

Data pro­tec­tion state­ment and pri­vacy no­tice for re­search par­tic­i­pants – Per­form­ing the Po­lit­i­cal pro­ject

Data pro­tec­tion state­ment and pri­vacy no­tice for re­search par­tic­i­pants – Per­form­ing the Po­lit­i­cal pro­jec­t’s video ma­te­r­ial

Per­form­ing the Po­lit­i­cal Fes­ti­val 15.4.2026

The Performing the Political Festival gathered performances, discussions, and artistic interventions about how musicians engage with society and how music-making relates to political, social, and environmental realities.

Watch videos from the Performing the Political Festival (Youtube)

Get to know the programme for the Perfoming the political festival on 15 April.

Reflecting the Political dialogue series 

This dialogue series aimed at Sibelius Academy students and staff explores how political, social, and ethical dimensions emerge through musical practice. The sessions bring together discussions and live music.

Fall 2026

Reflecting the political #4: Music and exile

6 October, 17:00-19:00

How do displacement and exile shape music, artistic identities, and the role of musicians in society?

Panelists:

• Maria Konoshenko, researcher and musician
• Lukas Stasevskij, cellist and filmmaker
• Vasilis Katopodis, Head of the Global Music Department, Sibelius Academy

Live music: Mohammad Javad Tavazonizadeh

Reflecting the Political #5: Music and eco-destruction

10 November, 17:00–19:00
Panelists: TBA

Reflecting the Political #6: Music and representation

1 December, 17:00–19:00
Panelists: TBA

Spring 2026

Reflecting the Political#1: People, Audiences, and Communities

10 February 2026, 17:00–19:00

This session considers the relational dimension of musical performance and pedagogy. How do musicians build meaningful engagement with each other, audiences, and communities? What forms of responsibility, care, and reciprocity shape artistic work?

Panelists:

• Sanna Salmenkallio, composer, musician
• Merzi Rajala, choir conductor, lecturer, Global Music Department, Sibelius Academy
• Jaime Belmonte, composer, lecturer, doctoral researcher, Global Music Department, Sibelius Academy

Live Music: Sofra Trio (Merve Abdurrahmani, piano, vocal, Hadi Hrekes, percussion, vocal, Melisa Yıldırım, kamancha/kemane, vocal, lavta)

Reflecting the Political #2: Space, Sites, and Locations

3 March 2026, 17:00–19:00

An examination of the physical and social environments in which music takes place. How does location influence the experience and interpretation of performance? What artistic possibilities emerge when musicians engage critically with their surroundings?

Panelists:

• Ava Grayson, composer, casual lecturer, Sibelius Academy/Aalto University
• Riikka Talvitie, composer, researcher, casual lecturer, Sibelius Academy
• Live Music: Simone Spampinato and Kristine Tukre

Reflecting the Political #3: Sound, Repertoire, and Programming

17 March 2026, 17:00–19:00

Discussing musical material, repertoire, and programming, and examining how artistic choices carry political and cultural meaning. What values are embedded in what we perform and present, and how musicians can contribute to more inclusive and reflective musical futures?

Panelists:

• Keval Shah, pianist, lecturer, Sibelius Academy (moderator)
• Jussi Kannaste, saxophonist, Head of Jazz Department, Sibelius Academy
• Libero Mureddu, musician, lecturer, Music Technology Department, Sibelius Academy
• Natasha Loges, Docent, Sibelius Academy
• Live Music: Gabriel Kivivuori & Keval Shah

Collaborative workshop 15.5.2025

Activating public pedagogy in music performance studies: Transition designs for socio-ecological responsibility and institutional change at the Music, Research, and Activism II: Solidarities and Urgencies conference 15.5.2025, University of Helsinki

Participants:

• Omotola Adeshina, bachelor student, Global Music, Sibelius Academy
• Mia Reba, bachelor student, Global Music, Sibelius Academy
• Sami Karkar, bachelor student, Global Music, Sibelius Academy
• Merzi Rajala, lecturer, Global Music, Sibelius Academy
• Taru Koivisto
• Tuulikki Laes

Placard of Art 25.4.2025 Helsinki central library Oodi

This production is based on selected composed poetry performed as spoken word and live music. These works advocates for the international students in Finland. The event also includes an interview with Helsinki based social justice activist Eugenie Touma van der Meulen.

Omotola Adeshina, bachelor student, Global Music, Sibelius Academy

The work is part of the Sibelius Academy’s Global Music deparment’s course Community engagement Project: Artistic Activism, Political Decision-Making, which acts as a partner in the research project.

Watch the video in Google Drive about Placard of Art in Oodi.

For the English subtitles, please open Youtube to watch the video.

Updates and articles relating to the project

Call for participants: Societal engagement as part of studying in Sibelius Academy

22.5.2025 Performing the political research project invites students and teachers at the Sibelius Academy to take part in a research project in the academic year 2025–2026. Read more about how to participate in the blog post.

Publications

Laes, T., Odendaal, Sæther, E. & Westvall, M. (in print). The potential of productive tensions for generating adaptive resilience in Nordic Higher Music Education. In: Westerlund, H., & Barrett, M. S. (Eds.), Transforming conservatoires and higher music education – The art of systems change. Routledge (SEMPRE).

Laes, T., Sæther, E. & Koivisto, T-A. (2025). Higher music education as a site of public pedagogy: Identifying institutional change in the Nordic countries. Research Studies in Music Education, https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X251361805

Laes, T., Biesta, G. & Westerlund, H. (2025). The Transformative Politics of Music Education. Routledge. Electronic version available as open access via Routledge.com.

Laes, T. & Koivisto, T.-A. (2024). Performing the political: Public pedagogy in higher music education. Finnish Journal of Music Education, 27(1), 126–128.

Blog posts

When words be­come cau­tious: Mu­sic, so­ci­ety, and pub­lic re­spon­si­bil­ity 

28.4.2026 Read the blog post by Tuulikki Laes

Is university a political actor?

29.11.2023 Read the blogpost by Tuulikki Laes and Taru Koivisto

Conference presentations and invited lectures

Excellently Engaged -symposium, Austria 2.6.2026. “Higher music education as a site of public pedagogy”. Tuulikki Laes (invited lecture).

Nordic Network for Research in Music Education (NNRME) conference, Norway, 24.-26.3.2026. “(Mis)performance as public pedagogy in higher music education”. Tuulikki Laes & Katja Thomson (conference presentation).

ISME Commission on Policy Pre-conference 23-26.7.2025, Finland. “Rethinking the politics and music professionalism: mapping political identifications in Nordic higher music education”. Tuulikki Laes & Taru Koivisto (conference presentation).

Nordic Network for Research in Music Education (NNRME) conference, Norway, 8.-10.4.2025. “Cracks in the wall” – Reconfiguring institutional change through public pedagogy in the Nordic higher music education. Tuulikki Laes & Eva Saether (conference presentation).