Academic musicians : How music performance students in Sweden re-/negotiate notions of knowledge and competence

As a result of reforms across higher education in Sweden, music performance programs have been subject to processes of academization. As professional education programs are located within academic structures, the question of balance between practical and ‘scientific’ knowledge is crucial. Expected learning outcomes at a national level now include statements concerning students’ insight into current research, critical reflection, an ability to formulate new questions and to contribute to the development of subject-specific knowledge. Students find themselves caught in the midst of these changes, where tensions rise between craftsmanship, artistic performance skills and scholarly knowledge. The aim of this study is to investigate how music performance students re-/negotiate notions of knowledge and competence in the light of processes of academization. By using methods associated with critical discourse studies, the specific objective here is to analyse and explain how tensions are discursively manifested as students re-/negotiate notions of knowledge and competence. The result is based on interviews with six master students with a classical music study-orientation at three higher music education institutions in Sweden. Results show that tensions arise primarily from ideas of musical autonomy versus adaption, between what the education provides versus what the labour market demands and between musical craftsmanship versus scholarly tasks. It is argued that ideals within higher education, in general, versus values and traditions associated with a master-apprentice tradition is one source of such tensions, which risk creating a perception of a fragmented education.DAPHM