NNRME conference 2025

• PhD pre-conference: 7-8 April
• Main conference: 8-10 April

In 1995, David Elliot published Music Matters, challenging educators and researchers to recognise and reconsider the deep and multifaceted ways in which music matters in human life and society. Thirty years later, the question remains ever-relevant: How do music, but also music education and music education research matter today, and in what ways?

This conference invites participants to explore the evolving significance of music education and music education research. In a world marked by diverse cultural expressions, pressing social challenges and rapid technological change, the question of how music education/research matters takes on new urgency.

The conference aims to bring together a diverse range of voices and perspectives to critically examine how and why music education/research matters, exploring these issues through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches by asking questions such as: How do different research perspectives and analytical frameworks make sense of music education? How does music education become relevant in responding to and shaping contemporary social issues? How is policy practices assigning meaning to music education at different levels (local, national and international)? In what ways do music and music education function as inclusionary and exclusionary practices, and what is the relevance of music education in today's societies?

We encourage all participants to consider how their own research interests relate to the broad theme of the significance of music education/research as described above. However, this overarching thematic perspective should not be understood as an exclusive thematic focus for all conference contributions. As always, we stress that NNRME welcomes all research relevant to the field of music education.

The conference programme allows for a variety of presentation formats: traditional research papers, panel discussions and presentations of larger research projects and 'quick and dirty' presentations (see the presentation formats below for more details).

Due to the growing interest in the conference, participants are encouraged to plan for one individual paper only, and participate in no more than three presentations in total.

The main conference is preceded by a PhD pre-conference open to PhD students at all stages of their projects. See more information below.