60th Anniversary memberships

ISME will be supporting 120 free memberships for the 2013/2014 biennium as part of its 60th Anniversary celebrations; two for every year of ISME’s existence. These memberships will support individuals and some groups across the globe with a primary focus on those in low and medium HDI countries and individuals in financial need. These include individuals and groups in:

Afghanistan; Argentina; Australia; Botswana; Brazil; Chile; China; Colombia; Cyprus; Egypt; Estonia; Ethiopia; Iran; Kenya; Lithuania; Mauritius; Mexico; Namibia; Nepal; Pakistan; Palestine; Poland; Romania; Russia; South Africa; Spain; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

Through this initiative ISME aims to extend its support for music education and music educators and to celebrate ISME’s contribution to music education globally.

Sad news

We heard at the end of February the sad news that our colleague Jay McPherson died after a period of illness. Jay was recently appointed to the ISME music policy: cultural, educational and mass media commission. He has served music education in Australia and made significant contributions in various roles including a leading role in music and arts education in the NSW Board of Studies and as a former National President of theAustralian Society for Music Education. He will be sorely missed.

Proceedings of the 30^th ISME World Conference

The proceedings of the 30^th World Conference in Thessaloniki have been published as a highly desirable book (490pp.) available fromamazon, amazon UK, amazon Germany, amazon France, amazon Italy, and amazon Spain. ISME members are entitled to a 30% discount on the price of the book; a link to the members’ store and discount code are available to all members inside the private ISME members’ area. Simply log onto your ISME account in order to access the discount information.

World Alliance for Arts Education

ISME is a founding member of the World Alliance for Arts Education. Expressions of Interest are now sought to host the 2014-2015 Global Symposium in Arts Education. More information can be found [here].

ISME Membership issues

A number of memberships that expired at the end of 2012 have yet to be renewed. Please remember that ISME membership runs for two years from January to December (with members who join part way through receiving copies of all publications from the two year period). If you joined (or renewed) at any time during 2011 your membership will have expired on 31st December 2012 and is therefore due for renewal.

Submissions of presentations for the 31^st ISME World Conference on Music Education

Guidelines for submission of presentations for the 31st World Conference on Music Education are now online at www.isme.org/isme2014. Online acceptance of submissions will begin on 1 August 2013 with a closing date of 1 October 2013.

Contact the ISME team

The new ISME Admin team is now in place and new e-mail contact addresses have been created so that we can support ISME members more effectively.

• For general issues (e.g. conferences, sponsorship, partnerships, etc., please contact the ISME Secretary General at isme@isme.org
• For membership enquiries, please contact the membership secretary atmembership@isme.org
• For website related issues, please contact the webmaster atwebmaster@isme.org
• For all financial matters, please contact the finance officer at finance@isme.org

Other News

• The week of 20-26 May 2013 will mark the ^2nd annual celebration of International Arts Education week. Established by UNESCO in 2012 the week provides opportunity to advocate to the wider community the benefits of participation in arts education for all. Suggestions for ways to celebrate International Arts Education will be appearing online through ISME’s various communications channels and media. Please stay in touch and feel free to contribute to ISME’s Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as ISME’s dedicatedAdvocacy Facebook Page.
• 27-30 June 2013 sees the 6^th Rhodes International Piano Forum and Music Festival. Members are invited for Lectures / Concerts / Workshops / Master Classes, etc. devoted to the Art of the Piano and Music. For further information please contact Katy Kastrouni at the Rhodes Conservatory.
• The first call has been issued for the 13th SIEMAI and 8^th Encontro de Primavera that will take place from 7-10 May 2014, in Ceuta (Spain). Further information can be found [here].
• St Petersburg’s Terem Quartet announces its Third International Music Competition. TEREM CROSSOVER “challenges traditional thinking about styles and genres! It is open to instrumental ensembles that do not fit the traditional mould, who have something to say and who are looking for their path”. The application period is open from 1 April 2014 to 30 June 2014. Further details about the Competition can be found at terem.cc or contactterem.competition@gmail.com
• A one-day SEMPRE conference will be hosted by the University of Hull on 9 November 2013. It will include invited presentations, a specialist workshop and selected submissions from researchers on the theme of music and empathy. Contributions are welcome from researchers at all levels and are particularly encouraged from postgraduate students. Submissions should show how the topic relates to the conference theme. Accepted submissions will be broadly organised into themes and presentations will be chaired by leading researchers. Please send abstracts for spoken presentations (200 words) by email to Caroline Waddington by Friday 16 August 2013.
• A new directory of music foundations, trusts, and grant-making NGO’s and other similar non-profit institutions provides a comprehensive picture of charitable music activity worldwide has been published and can be ordered fromAPI publishing.