Ethnomusicology Beyond Academia

Ever since Ethnomusicology evolved from Comparative Musicology and re-defined the discipline’s scope, focus and method, it has been closely linked to practical activities that take part outside academia. While the mastery of instruments and dances of various cultures have strongly stood at the centre of attention of (mostly Western) ethnomusicologist curricula during the 1970s and 80s (a process that is sometimes still going on), ethnographic filmmaking (e.g. John Baily) as well as the production of sound collages (e.g. Steven Feld) and from the 1990s on podcasts (e.g. SOAS podcasts) have become attractive ways for disseminating ethnomusicological research. Even though written academic papers, books and journals currently still lie at the core of the ethnomusicological output, recent audio project series such as Ethnomusicology Today (SEM) or interactive websites such as Musicians in America during the Covid-19 Pandemic (SEM) are steadily moving to the forefront. This means that ethnomusicological research gets known beyond the academic ivory tower, becomes thus more inclusive and can be more easily integrated into the broader society. In this presentation, I shall briefly discuss some of the ethnomusicological projects I have been involved with over the last 3 years that clearly go beyond lecturing at the University of Bern: a) the BFE Podcast Project b) the ethnographic motion picture in-the-making Beyond Tradition c) the transnational online choir project ChorOnline I shall highlight what tools and methods were applied in each of these projects, will discuss their advantages and challenges and will provide some technical know-how. The presentation shall encourage ethnomusicologists to think beyond academia and to get ideas about how ethnomusicology today can be successfully integrated into the broader society across social and geographic boundaries