What kind of music education benefits a student when we most often get music by simply pressing “play”? What kind of musical experiences should be sought and promoted by educators, and in what ways should technologies be included—or resisted? Questions like these are at the heart of my interests, explored in recent work on the music education through the field of sound studies, the promotion of creative rights instead of copyright compliance, and the need for educators to avoid mythologizing cyberculture and algorithms.
My critical interest in technology also animates my enthusiasm for participatory music education (music made with all instead of concerts given for others). I am a founding member of the Homebrew Ukulele Union, a group that leads participatory sing-along events. In Japan I regularly perform old-time music in Japan, including as a member of Black Beans and the Rich Mountain String Band. My students and I have helped thousands, including Patch Adams, discover the joys of participatory music.
Here’s a bit more:
I am Associate Professor of Cultural and Creative Arts at The Education University of Hong Kong. I presently serve as the Chair of the NAfME Philosophy SRIG. During the 2012–2013 school year, I was a Faculty Fellow at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, and in 2013 was the recipient of the Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award presented by the Center for Music Education Research at the University of South Florida.
I serve the profession through work on the editorial or advisory boards of: Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, The International Journal of Education & the Arts, the Journal of Music, Technology, and Education, the Media Journal in Music Education, and Music Educators Journal. From 2010-2014 I wrote the “Secondary Scene” column in General Music Today. Working on a multiyear National Science Foundation grant, I co-authored the 2005 book Designing Everyday Assessment in the Science Classroom (Teachers College Press). I have consulted for Apple Computer, the California Arts Council, California State University System, and Interlochen Arts Academy (with Elliot Eisner).
Before all the above, I studied music education and psychology at Florida State University before completing MA and Ph.D. degrees in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education (with a concentration in Arts Education) working with Elliot Eisner at Stanford University. I was a full-time public school music specialist (K-3) for the Portola Valley School District, and later worked as an Artist in Residence at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (high school) in San Francisco. I previously taught at San José State University, the University of Illinois, as well as in the online Masters Program at the University of Florida—but you might know me as owner of the Craigslist Gym or from Volume 5 of Dr. Demento’s Basement Tapes (playing with Tao Z. Jonz).
Well, you made it this far, why don’t you email and say hello?
Matthew Thibeault 