Editorial

The international and cultural diversity of topics in the current issue of the journal is exciting to observe. In contrast, historical eras highlighted in the collection lack diversity, with four of five articles located in the twentieth century. The exception is Georgia Pike-Rowney’s article on “The ‘Distant Music of Social Radicalism’: The Debate Between Pelagius and Augustine of the Fourth Century CE and its Relevance to Music Education.” Historical study of time periods earlier than the eighteenth century is sparse in music education scholarship. Access to primary sources is likely a reason for this neglect, coupled with the fact that scholars have typically studied music in public education, with beginnings in the early nineteenth century. Regardless of historical era under study, there are echoes and resonances of the past in current discourse about music education, as Pike-Rowney illustrates in her study of the Pelagian Debate. The article highlights perennial issues that can arise at the intersections and entanglements of music, religion, and education, borrowing from the title of a book that Pike-Rowney cites. ¹ In Part II of her essay, the author devotes time to connect ideas from the Pelagian Debate with similar ideas relevant to the profession today.

Also included in this issue are two biographical studies of twentieth-century American musician-educators, Paul Price and William Frederick Cardin. Haley Nutt presents a portrait of “Paul Price and American Percussion Practices during the ‘Golden Age’ of Higher Education.” This narrative reveals a new perspective on the influence of higher education institutions on the growth of music and music discourse in the post-World War II era. Furthermore, the study shows how one entrepreneurial musician and pedagogue provided a model for developing percussion programs in music in higher education. Authors Glen Brumbach and Andrea Brumbach document the life and legacy of a second musician-educator, Native American William Frederick Cardin, or Pejawah. The number of historical studies documenting the lives of individuals from marginalized groups is increasing and these authors contribute to redressing this imbalance in professional literature. Cardin taught instrumental music for several decades and also pursued a career as performer and conductor. His story describes the efforts he made to promote his heritage and culture through music. The biography is vivified by the inclusion of several photos and images throughout the article as well as accounts from Cardin’s former students and colleagues.

The final two articles illuminate the history of music education in Australia and Nigeria, respectively. With a goal of redress similar to that of the Brumbach and Brumbach article, Veronica Boulton, in her article “Brass Bands: The Foundation of Music Education in Australian Schools,” brings to light the fundamental role that brass bands played in establishing music in Australian schools in the twentieth century. Tracing the colonial influence of British-style brass bands in the development of brass bands in schools, Boulton’s narrative provides a foundation for a comparative study of the development of school bands in the United States—for example, the bands’ roots in military settings, male-dominated culture, the dominance of contests, and the rise of the concert band. The inclusion of photographs throughout the article animates the narrative and reveals developmental trends in school brass bands. Moving from Australia to Nigeria, Arugha Ogisi chronicles “Challenges and Successes During the Early Years of the Nsukka Music School” in the 1960s. The author describes the impact of colonialism on the development of music education, particularly how western music was used by Christian missionaries and subsequently entered the school music curriculum, to the neglect of indigenous music traditions. A bi-musical counter-hegemonic curriculum was introduced at Nsukka Music School (NMS) that included both western and traditional music. This early effort toward a diverse music curriculum in higher education, as Ogisi points out, came with numerous challenges in the implementation stage. Informed by archival documents of NMS and numerous oral history interviews, the author documents the challenges and the successes of efforts to resolve those challenges. Ogisi provides a valuable historical case study of an institution that pushed back against the impact of colonial influence on music and music education in Nigeria.

Three books are reviewed in the current issue. They re-examine the contributions of individuals (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) or re-contextualize music education practices (learning jazz, and ethics of care in music pedagogy). The journal is an important forum for bringing to the readership recently published books or media relevant to the history of music teaching and learning. Please submit your review directly to Book and Media Review Editor, Alan Spurgeon aspurg@olemiss.edu.