The Ethical Horizons of Music and Art Schools  

25–26 September 2026

Programme

Please note that the symposium programme is subject to change. All times are given in CEST (Central European Summer Time). 

Online participants have full access to the livestreamed programme on Zoom and to all prerecorded presentations on ConfTool. 

For all links, please log in at https://www.conftool.net/emss2026/

Complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks, lunch on both days, and a light dinner on Friday are all included in the fee for on-site participation.
These meals are served in the Bankettsaal near the campus restaurant Mensa. 

We look forward to welcoming you to the 4th European Music & Art School Symposium! 

 

Friday 25 September

08:00–10:30 Registration (Main entry hall)

09:0010:15 Fanny Hensel Hall

Opening and keynote (in English)

Alexandra Kertz-Welzel

Educating for an uncertain future: Ethical dimensions of music and arts schools' societal mission 

10:1511:30 Clara Schumann Hall 

Eröffnung und Keynote (auf Deutsch)

Alexandra Kertz-Welzel

Bildung für eine ungewisse Zukunft: Ethische Dimensionen des gesellschaftlichen Auftrags
von Musik- und Kunstschulen  

09:30–11:15 Coffee, Meet & Greet (Bankettsaal)

11:4513:15 Session 1

Fanny Hensel Hall

Chair: Tuulia Tuovinen

Clara Schumann Hall

Chair: Rut Jorunn Rønning

spiel|mach|t|raum

Chair: Antti Snellmann

Online

Chair: Ida Knutsson

Generation Z career starters and the realities of music school structures and management: A clash of values?

 

Peter Röbke

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Between educational mission and democratic opening: The ethical self-understanding of music schools

 

Judith McGregor

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Co-creation, sensorial innovation, and ethics of care in interdisciplinary music performance and education

 

Katarzyna Musial

Concordia University, Canada

Sonic migrations: Exploring musical identities in school communities

 

Nikolay Tomov Demerdzhiev

ELCHK Lutheran Academy, Hong Kong S.A.R. (China)

Whose voice counts? Ethical negotiations in youth choir pedagogy

 

Amber Deckers

LUCA School of Arts; KU Leuven, Belgium

Ethical perspectives on policy changes in Estonian music schools

 

Kaisa Johanna Vähi

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Ethical reflexivity as educational infrastructure: Reimagining professional responsibility in music and art education in the age of artificial intelligence

 

Maria Argyriou

University of the Aegean, Greece

Walking with Elly Bašić: Rethinking ethical horizons of the music education ecosystem in Croatia

 

Ana Čorić

Royal Conservatoire The Hague, Netherlands

 

From "archival silence" to "communal voice": Ethical responsibility and the revival of intangible heritage in Rhodes

 

Christos Theologos, Panagiotis Loukas Bellos, Anthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou

Music School of Rhodes, Greece

Tradition meets transformation: Finnish piano teachers' responses to a changing music education landscape

 

Ritva Koistinen

University of Eastern Finland; Kuopio Conservatory

Jussi Rinta

University of Eastern Finland; Palmgren Conservatory

Generative AI in music schools: Ethical risks, educational opportunities, and responsible governance

 

Paolo Paradiso

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

In search of phronēsis: Finnish Basic Arts Education in music as a case in point

 

Marja Heimonen

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

13:1514:30 Lunch (Bankettsaal)

14:3016:00 Session 2

Fanny Hensel Hall

Chair: Heidi Elmgren

Clara Schumann Hall

 

spiel|mach|t|raum

Chair: Csilla Gál

Online (streamed)

 

The role of music and art schools in society viewed in light of teachers' and leaders' silent and latent justifications of the importance of art

 

Rut Jorunn Rønning, Øivind Varkøy

Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway

Panel 1
Advancing equitable access through early childhood music education: The CC-ECME project

 

Dorothy Conaghan (moderator)

International Music Council

Michaela Hahn

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria; European Music School Union

Taru Koivisto

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Teaching with artificial intelligence in music education: Ethical challenges and pedagogical strategies

 

Maria Argyriou

University of the Aegean, Greece

The role of music and art schools in society viewed in light of teachers' and leaders' silent and latent justifications of the importance of art

 

Rut Jorunn Rønning, Øivind Varkøy

Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway

Developing and implementing a learning-outcome-based curriculum in a results-oriented context: ethical dilemmas and pragmatic countermeasures

 

Eliise Kannukene

Tartu I Music School, Estonia

Design thinking and futures literacy as methods for collaborative music school development

 

Christian Braun

Verband Musikschulen Schweiz, Switzerland

Developing and implementing a learning-outcome-based curriculum in a results-oriented context: ethical dilemmas and pragmatic countermeasures

 

Eliise Kannukene

Tartu I Music School, Estonia

The ethics of self-cultivation: A conceptual framework for aesthetic care in gifted music education

 

Chun Li

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Changing conversations: Ethics, reflexivity, and organisational learning in a Danish music and art school

 

Thomas Albæk Jakobsen

Frederikshavn Kommune, Denmark

The ethics of self-cultivation: A conceptual framework for aesthetic care in gifted music education

 

Chun Li

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

16:0016:30 Coffee break (Bankettsaal)

16:3018:00 Session 3

Bankettsaal

Chair: Heidi Partti

Clara Schumann Hall

Chair: Katherine Spencer

spiel|mach|t|raum

Chair: Thomas De Baets

Online

 

Poster session

Research ethics in music education research

 

Maria Argyriou

University of the Aegean, Greece
Desiree Calzavara

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Veronika Hofer

University of Education Freiburg, Germany
Nasia Konsta

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Chun Li

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland
Gerson Nascimento

Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal 
Hanne Närhinsalo

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland
Paolo Paradiso

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Stepanka Vojtasova

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria
Kaisa Johanna Vähi

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Migrant families and the ethics of access in music and arts education

 

Júlia Espinet Alegre

Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Spain

Ethical dimensions of instrumental music education: A comparative study of Norway and Poland

 

Julia Katarzyna Leikvoll

University of Bergen, Norway

Film

Music and Art Project: Franz Schmidt Reloaded

 

Who were you, Franz Schmidt?

Wer warst Du, Franz Schmidt?

 

Maria Jenner

Franz Schmidt Music and Art School, Austria

Beyond inclusion: An ethical reimagining of belonging in Finnish music schools

 

Hanna Backer Johnsen

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Teaching tradition: cross-thematic multicultural approaches and the cultivation of cultural ethics in music schools

 

Evgenia Psaroudaki

Music School of Heraklion, Greece

Αnthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou

Music School of Rhodes, Greece

 

 

 

 

Games of inclusion and exclusion in extra-curricular schools of music and performing arts

 

Siw G. Nielsen, Anne Jordhus-Lier

Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway

The position of Roma students in the music education system in Montenegro – a case study

 

Vedrana Marković 

University of Montenegro, Music Academy, Montenegro

Andrea Ćoso

School for Elementary and Secondary Music Education Vida Matjan Kotor, Montenegro

18:20–20:00 Chamber concert (two audience groups) 18:20–20:00 Film (two screenings) Online (streamed)

Fanny Hensel Hall and online streaming

18:20–19:00 Chamber concert (first
audience group)

19:20–20:00 Chamber concert (second
audience group)

Clara Schumann Hall

18:20–19:00 Film (first screening

19:20–20:00 Film (second screening)

18:20–19:00 Chamber concert
 19:00–21:00 Light dinner (Bankettsaal)

 

Saturday 26 September

09:00–10:00 Fanny Hensel Hall and online 

 Keynote (in English)
Guadalupe López-Íñiguez

Musically gifted children, exceptionalised and erased: Care ethics amid the ethical cracks of music education

09:00–10:15 Clara Schumann Hall 

Keynote (Auf Englisch mit deutschen Untertiteln)
Guadalupe López-Íñiguez

Musically gifted children, exceptionalised and erased: Care ethics amid the ethical cracks of music education

10:0010:45 Coffee break (Bankettsaal)

10:4512:15 Session 4

Fanny Hensel Hall
 

Clara Schumann Hall

Chair: Kaisa Johanna Vähi

spiel|mach|t|raum

Chair: Anne Jordhus-Lier

Online

 

Panel

Ethical dimensions of gifted music education

 

Guadalupe López-Íñiguez

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Magdalena Bork (moderator)

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Romain Asselborn

European Music School Union

Chun Li

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Negotiating change in Finnish music schools: Interactions and tensions between equality and excellence

 

Heidi Elmgren

University of Turku, Finland

The significance of assessing the ability to relate in inclusive contexts

 

Erik Esterbauer

Mozarteum University Salzburg, Austria

Panel (streamed)

Ethical dimensions of gifted music education

 

Guadalupe López-Íñiguez

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Magdalena Bork (moderator)

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Romain Asselborn,

European Music School Union

Chun Li

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Ethical tensions in music school teachers' support of students' pathways to music studies

 

Michael Göllner

mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Concert of inclusion: A systemic model for ethical accessibility in music schools

 

Edmar Tuul

Non-Profit Organisation Kõrvale Pai, Estonia; Viimsi Music School, Estonia

Practice architectures of practicum supervision in instrumental music teacher education in Norway

 

Hilde Synnøve Blix

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Gry Sagmo Aglen

University of Inland Norway

Ethical dimensions of children's inclusion in Finnish music schools: Findings from a practitioner-research study

 

Tuulia Tuovinen

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

12:1513:30 Lunch (Bankettsaal)

13:3015:00 Session 5

Fanny Hensel Hall

Chair: Gry Sagmo Aglen

Clara Schumann Hall

 

spiel|mach|t|raum

Chair: Julia Katarzyna Leikvoll

Online

Chair: Ida Knutsson

Cracks in the system? How Flemish music schools navigate a flawed ecosystem

 

Thomas De Baets, Thomas Geudens

LUCA School of Arts, Belgium; KU Leuven, Belgium

Österreich-Session

Ethische Dimensionen der generationenübergreifenden Arbeit in Musikschulen

 

Judith McGregor (Moderation)

Gerda Müller

Barbara Strack-Hanisch

Cecilia Björk

Michael Göllner

Anna Pflügl

mdw - Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien

Heidrun Springer

Konferenz der Österreichischen Musikschulwerke (KOMU), Musikschulen des Landes Kärnten 

Martin Reining

Musikschule Donaustadt

Neurodiversity in instrumental and vocal pedagogy: Reducing barriers and expanding competencies 

 

María Rosa Badías Herbera

Universidad Politécnica Madrid, Spain; Musikschule Bregenz, Austria

Andreas Eckert

Interkantonale Hochschule für Heilpädagogik, Switzerland

Lino Pedro García Morales

Universidad Politécnica Madrid, Spain

Those who are not there: An ethics of absence in music schools

 

Enric Aragonès Jové

Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Spain

Ethical plurality in music education: Virtue, relationality and fidelity in kulturskole–compulsory school collaboration

 

Bjørn-Terje Bandlien

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

Self-evaluation of music and art schools as a premise for integral ethical management 

 

Loreta Venslavičienė,

Renata Bilbokaitė

Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, Lithuania

Enabling participation – a music school for all people

 

Norbert Koop

Musikschule Bochum, Germany

Celebrating new practices in music schools

 

Jens Bloch

Kolding Municipal Culture School

Søren Friis Møller

Danske Musik- og Kulturskoler, Denmark

Transforming music school education together – facing ethical tensions in an action research project with teachers of musicianship skills

 

Hanne Närhinsalo

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Rethinking inclusive music education: Empirical insights and egalitarian difference as an ethical perspective

 

Beatrice McNamara

Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany

15:0015:45 Coffee break (Bankettsaal)

15:4517:15 Session 6

Fanny Hensel Hall

Clara Schumann Hall

Chair: TBD

spiel|mach|t|raum

 

Online

Chair: Ida Knutsson

Panel 3
A music school for all: Ethical dimensions of an inclusive approach

 

Desiree Calzavara 

(moderator)

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

Júlia Espinet Alegre

Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Spain

Anne Jordhus-Lier

Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway

Siw G. Nielsen

Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway

Katherine Spencer

Musikschule Bochum; Cologne University of Music and Dance

Edmar Tuul

Non-profit organisation Kõrvale Pai, Estonia

Viimsi Music School, Estonia

Robert Vroegindeweij

European Music School Union

 

 

 

 

 

Balancing artistic excellence and professional well-being: An institutional ethics perspective on working conditions at music schools in Greece

 

Anthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou

Music School of Rhodes, Greece 

Angeliki Triantafyllaki

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Panagiotis Loukas Bellos

Christos Theologos

Music School of Rhodes, Greece

 

 

 

What do we mean when we talk about ethics? Arts education and ethics beyond praxis

 

William J. Coppola

University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, United States of America

Ikigai, voice, and ethical responsibility in vocal pedagogy: Play, motivation and self-inquiry in music education

 

Federica Marchi

J. A. Comenius Secondary School, Italy

Guglielmo Marconi University, Italy

Discernment (diakrisis) as an ethical virtue in music mentoring: A duoethnographic study of a mentor-mentee relationship in teacher education

 

Vassilis Digos, Georgios Tsitas

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

A reflexive compass to support autonomous motivation in Finnish music schools: Introducing a circumplex model for music education

 

Antti Snellman

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Enhancing music education: Integrating classical Confucianism with feminist perspectives

 

Cassio (Yiqing) Zhou

University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, United States of America

17:45 Joseph Haydn Hall
Closing ceremony

Announcing EMSS 2028

19:15 Symposium dinner 

Restaurant Terra Rossa, Roterdstraße 3, 1160 Wien