tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004431579999936212024-03-08T04:58:06.407-08:00VocaLifeSinging and Lifelong Community Health in Japan and the Nordic/Baltic RegionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-400443157999993621.post-80712349672901438042013-07-21T09:32:00.001-07:002013-07-23T14:35:23.180-07:00<br />
VocaLife is envisioned as a coordinated stream of international-comparative research projects on singing and lifelong community health in <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and the Nordic/Baltic region of <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<br />
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VocaLife is collaboratively led by Professor David G. Hebert (Grieg<st1:city st="on"> Academy</st1:city>, Bergen University College, Norway), Morten Heide (Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm), and Professor Masafumi Ogawa (<st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Yokohama National University</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region></st1:place>).<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">Phase 1</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of VocaLife</span> is a comparison of choral singing in contemporary Japanese and Scandinavian societies. Later phases of VocaLife will expand the scope of inquiry to also consider Baltic nations, such as Latvia and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Estonia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">Rationale:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">Singing is widely recognized by psychological and medical researchers as a uniquely effective activity for stress-reduction and general mental health, and is also acknowledged by sociologists and anthropologists to be a universally meaningful practice in terms of both social integration and construction of cultural meanings. However, in contemporary industrialized consumer societies, music has increasingly become an object that is passively consumed rather than actively produced by amateurs, and in recent generations singing has gradually disappeared from the regular activities of most people. Meanwhile, social problems have proliferated, ranging from a general alienation of the aging population to even high-profile acts of mass violence among adolescents in schools. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">We propose that a careful investigation of the situation in <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region> will lead to important insights. <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Japan</st1:place></st1:country-region> is highly significant in this field as home to some of the world's largest national choir competitions and festivals and popular televised singing events, as well as the origin of karaoke and related amateur vocal activities. <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region> is also internationally significant as the home of many highly influential choirs and choral composers, as well as an internationally-renowned system of music education. Prominent companies such as Sony (of <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region>) and Nokia (of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region>) also call for consideration, since in 2009 they became the first to offer unlimited music downloads on some mobile phones, enabling instant and free access to thousands of songs for the first time in history.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">Research Contacts:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">The year 2009 marked the 90th anniversary of diplomacy between <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. According to <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region>'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "<st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region> have consistently maintained a friendly relationship, since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1919, and exchanged diplomatic missions in 1921. In recent years, the relationship between <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region> has expanded steadily in not only the economic and trade areas, but also in the cultural and academic fields. <st1:country-region st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> concluded in 1978 a cultural agreement with <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Finland</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which was the first of this kind among the Nordic countries." Norway also has a close relationship with Japan, having formally established diplomatic relations in 1905. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10;">VocaLife has established contacts with the <span style="font-style: italic;">Finnish Institute in </span><st1:country-region st="on" style="font-style: italic;">Japan</st1:country-region><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>via the Embassy of Finland in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Tokyo</st1:city></st1:place>. Grant applications will be proposed to obtain financial support for VocaLife research endeavors in association with the Nordic research network </span><a href="http://www.nnimipa.org/">NNIMIPA</a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px;">. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /><a href="http://www.hib.no/senter/sekkk/personer/david-gabriel-hebert-eng.asp">Professor David G. Hebert</a>, </span><a href="http://mortenheide.dk/">Morten Heide</a>, and <a href="http://www.bu.edu/tanglewoodtwo/committee/ogawa/index.html">Professor Masafumi Ogawa</a></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-GB">Principal Investigators</span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br />..................................................................................................<br /><br /><b>Prospective Advisory Board: </b>(to be confirmed)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.hbf.lv/index.php?&366&view=concert&concert_id=151">Chifuru Matsubara</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.ondine.net/?lid=en&cid=3.2&oid=370"><span lang="EN-GB">Eric-Olof Söderström</span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>Related Publications</b></span><b>:</b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hebert, D. G., Kallio, A. A.
& Odendaal, A. (2012). "Not So Silent Night: Tradition,
Transformation, and Cultural Understandings of Christmas Music Events in
Helsinki, Finland". <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17411912.2012.721525#.UevzuLSYnww"><span style="color: #094696; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Ethnomusicology Forum</span></a>,
Vol. 21, No.3, pp.402-423. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">Hebert, D. G. & Heimonen, M. (2013). “Public Policy and Music Education in Norway and Finland,” </span><u style="text-indent: 36pt;"><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/vaep20/current#.UewLlrSYnww" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #094696; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Arts Education Policy Review</span></a></u><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">, Vol. 114, No. 3, special issue on “Cosmopolitanism and Policy” (pp.135-148).</span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-indent: 48px;">Hebert, D. G. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: 48px;">(2012, in press). “International Comparisons in the Improvement of Education,” </span><i style="text-indent: 48px;"><u><span lang="EN-GB">Signum Temporis</span></u></i><u style="text-indent: 48px;"><span lang="EN-GB">: Journal of Research in Pedagogy and Psychology</span></u><u style="text-indent: 48px;"><span lang="EN-GB">,</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: 48px;"> Vol. 5 [based on keynote speech for </span><i style="text-indent: 48px;"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.rpiva.lv/pdf/tpmsi_6_2012_konferences_programma.pdf">Theory for Practice in the Education of Contemporary Society</a></span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: 48px;">, Riga, Latvia</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: 48px;">]. </span></span></li>
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