International Society for Music Education (ISME.org)

All information provided in this page was accurate during the time of service 2008-2010. Please note that commissioners' biographical notes will have changed since.

José Luis Aróstegui

José Luis Aróstegui is a faculty member in the Department of Music Education at the University of Granada, Spain. His formal training is in Western classical music, education and qualitative research. During 2001-2003, he held a postdoctoral fellowship sponsored by the Ministry of Education of Spain at CIRCE, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He has presented papers at a number of international conferences (AERA, ISME, AEA) and published articles in such journals as Revista de Educación, Aula de Innovación Educativa (in Spanish), International Journal of Music Education, Education Policy Analysis Archives (in English) and Em Pauta (in Portuguese). His most recent publication is an edited book, The social context of music education, published by CIRCE. José Luis Aróstegui has recently been appointed by the Europe Aid Co-operation Office of the European Commission to co-ordinate, on behalf of the University of Granada, a major evaluation of Music Teacher Education Programmes. He was also recently appointed to serve as a member of the Editorial Committees of The Quality of Higher Education journal, issued by the Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, and the International Journal of Music Education, by ISME.

Emily B. Achieng' Akuno

Emily Achieng' Akuno studied music in Kenya (Bed), USA (MMus) and UK (PhD). She is currently head of the School of Music and Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She has taught postgraduate and undergraduate courses in musicology, performance and music education. Her research work covers music practice and education, with a focus on cultural relevance through the use of indigenous music in schools. Past and present board and committee memberships include: Academic Board of Kenya National Theatre Drama School (Chairperson); Kenya Cultural Centre Governing Council (Member); East and Central African Division of Seventh Day Adventist Churches Music Committee (member); Executive Committee, Kenya Music and Cultural Festival (Chairperson); Executive Committee of Kenya Music Festival (Chairperson); (present) Association of Music Educators of East Africa - AMEEA; Pan-African Society for Musical Arts Education - PASMAE; International Society for Music Education - ISME, where she serves as commissioner for the Music In School and Teacher Education Commission- MISTEC.

Veronika Cohen

Dr Veronika Cohen is Chairman of Department of Music Education at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She has a master's degree from Yale University in composition and received her PhD in music education from the University of Illinois in 1980. Her research interests have focused on the development of musical cognitive processes, with special emphasis on development of musical creativity. She has developed an approach for intuitive reflection through the use of kinaesthetic analogues or "musical mirrors" for musical cognitive processes. Her work has been presented at many international conferences and published in various journals. Before moving to Israel in 1979, Dr Cohen taught in the United States and Canada. In Israel, in addition to her teaching activity, for the past fifteen years she has been involved in a project of prepared concerts for pupils of K-12. She currently serves on a committee for developing a national curriculum as well as a committee for closing social gaps. Her project relates to social integration through the medium of Arab music. She also serves as Advisor to the Ministry of Education. Her publications include contribution to Music Education Entering the 21st Century, ISME, edited by Patricia Shand, 2004, "Musical Creativity: A Teacher Training Perspective", chapter in: Creativity & Music Education, edited by Timothy Sullivan & Lee Willingham, published by Canadian Music Educators Association, Edmonton, 2002, and "What if Kids Could Choose" in Canadian Music Educator, Spring 2002.

Jody Kerchner

Dr Jody L. Kerchner is Associate Professor and Director of Music Education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she is the secondary school music and choral music education specialist. Prior to teaching at the collegiate level, Dr Kerchner taught K-8 general and choral music. She received degrees in music education and vocal performance from West Chester University and a PhD from Northwestern University. She has presented workshops and research papers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Dr Kerchner is co-author of Prelude to Music Education (2003) and author of several chapters in edited books. She is on the editorial boards of Contributions to Research in Music Education and the Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education. Dr Kerchner's research interests include children's responses during music listening, choral music education, and teacher education. She has designed, implemented, and written about portfolio assessment, music listening pedagogy, and reflective thinking tools that pre-service music teachers experience in her music education and choral methods courses.

Deirdre Russell-Bowie

Deirdre Russell-Bowie is currently an Associate Professor in Creative Arts Education at the University of Western Sydney where she has been lecturing, practising and researching in Music and Creative Arts education for the past twenty-five years. She has also taught music education students and teachers in Australia, Canada and South Africa. Deirdre has published prolifically in the area of music and creative arts education, and, as well as being in demand as a practitioner-researcher, Deirdre has written over thirty Creative Arts resource books since 1981, that have sold both nationally and internationally. Her latest book, MMADD about the Arts: An Introduction to Primary Arts Education is used as a set text in many universities across Australia. Her research interests relate to pre-service teacher education in the creative arts, the arts and at-risk children and creative arts education in the primary school. In recognition of her teaching she was the winner of the prestigious 2001 Australian Award for University Teaching (Social Sciences). Deirdre has been attending ASME and ISME conferences as a member and been a member since 1988, and has also presented at seven ISME conferences, seven ASME conferences and four MISTEC seminars over the past 14 years.

Eva Sæther

Dr Eva Sæther is a senior lecturer in Music and Society and postdoctoral research fellow in music education research at Lund University, Malmö Academy of Music. Her research area is intercultural perspectives on music education, which is also reflected in her engagement in the development of new courses and projects to serve an intercultural music teacher training. Ongoing research projects: "Playing yourself Swedish or Persian?" and "Jam2Jam case study. Creative engagement in collaborative online systems".