LCM students at the 21st Century Music Practice Conference
LCM students at the 21st Century Music Practice Conference

Music academics gather at UWL to discuss common themes in pedagogy and practice research

Intro

UWL’s London College of Music (LCM) hosted 50 academics from around the world for a 21st Century Music Practice Conference recently, looking for common themes in pedagogy and practice research in performance, composition, record production, music technology, music business and arts administration.

Article body

Panelists speaking at the 21st Century Music talk

Departing from the conventional conference format, the event drew inspiration from the 'flipped classroom' concept, featuring themed panels comprising three presenters alongside a moderator, facilitating engaging and thought-provoking conversations and discussion.

Each presenter crafted a 20-minute video presentation in advance, made available to attendees, as well as the wider public, two weeks prior to the conference. Both presenters and moderators watched all three videos in preparation for their live sessions.

During the conference, each presenter succinctly summarised their paper in a fast-paced, five-minute pitch, paving the way for an interactive 75-minute discussion involving the four panellists and the audience.

The entire discussion was recorded by a team of student volunteers and made available alongside the online presentations. More than a thousand individuals have since engaged with the presentations, highlighting the immense interest in and impact of the conference.

The conference was organised by Dr Daniel Pratt, Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas and Dr Liz Pipe. Dr Veronica Skrimsjö from Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts also contributed her expertise.

Panelists speaking at the 21st Century Music talk

The conference left behind the constraints of time-limited presentations and brief questions and embraced a new approach,”

said Dr Daniel Pratt.

Teams of academics engaged in spirited conversations, delving into their work rather than simply reviewing it. The energy and enthusiasm from the audience was fantastic, as this gathering transformed into a dynamic discourse among colleagues, united in their mission to elevate practice as research as a groundbreaking academic pursuit."

Staff, students and panelists speaking at the LCM event

It was a fantastic day,”

said Dr Adrian Hull, Head of the School of Creative Technologies and Reader in Composition at the University of Portsmouth.

I’ve really missed that kind of thing the last few years, but this was at a different level — I absolutely loved the format!”

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