The ISME World Conference has come to an end.
It followed the MISTEC Pre-Conference Seminar at UQAM, 20–24 July, which marked fifty years of the Music in Schools and Teacher Education Commission.
Thank you to everyone who made the two weeks possible: our outgoing President Patricia A. González-Moreno, the ISME Board, our CEO Ryan Zellner, the team at UQAM who hosted the MISTEC seminar, the local organising committee for the World Conference, my colleagues across the standing committees, commissions and special interest groups, and the numerous volunteers.
Congratulations and best wishes to Jody Kerchner, who takes over as President and set out a new vision for ISME, to Gwen Moore, President-Elect, and to the incoming Board.
In a world of rising polarisation and conflict, meetings like this are a spark of hope and a testimony of openness, hospitality and the will to collaborate. More than that, they lay the foundation for ongoing networking, dialogue and international collaborations that have the potential of creating change. This was an inspiring and uplifting gathering, full of thoughtful conversation and kindness.
I am also thinking of the colleagues who could not come. Visa refusals, travel restrictions, obstacles arising from conflicts far outside anyone's control. Papers were withdrawn from the programme and participation cancelled at the last minute, for reasons that are sometimes very unsettling and hard to understand. It was heartbreaking to watch. I hope that in two years, in Thailand, we can all meet.
I was involved in both events as a MISTEC Commissioner and a member of the ISME Advocacy Standing Committee. I gave two paper presentations: "Re-becoming Musical: Family Musicking and Self-Esteem of Immigrant Parents", and "Family Musicking and Musical Togetherness: Early Childhood Music Sessions as Support Networks for Immigrant Families".
I also took part in two sessions with great colleagues.
The first was the early childhood panel, "Musicking with Very Young Children: Building Relationships and Belonging", convened by Amanda Niland, with Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir, Jessica Pitt and me. I was happy to see early childhood and family musicking draw so much attention.
The second was the History Standing Committee's mentoring session, "Dialogues of Past-Present-Future: Historical Research from Emerging Scholars in Music Education", led by Craig Resta, where I presented alongside Jennifer Rozsa, Ana Álamo Orellana and Katja Kleyensteuber. My paper "The Unmusical Self" argued that the conviction of being unmusical is a historical artefact of European music education rather than a personal trait.
On the way home to Reykjavík I am exhausted, but also grateful and motivated.
Thank you all. It was a precious time.
ISME World Conference 2026: https://www.ismeworldconference.org/
ISME: https://www.isme.org/
