‘Please, give me space’: findings and implications from an evaluation of the GLOMUS intercultural music camp, Ghana 2011

Folk music programmes have been a major feature of higher education music departments across the Nordic region for several decades. Still, programmes that offer the opportunity to deeply study non-European music (other than jazz) are very rare in most of Europe, and programmes in music education that offer such opportunities at anything more than a superficial level had been virtually non-existent until the launch of the international collaborative Nordic Master of Global Music (GLOMAS) programme at WOMEX in 2009. This article is based on observations and interviews with participants at the GLOMUS11. GLOMUS is the global network for higher music education that supports the GLOMAS programme and other initiatives. See: http://glomus.net camp, an intensive post-graduate music course affiliated with the GLOMAS programme that was first held in Ghana (3–13 April 2011), as well as questionnaires administered at the beginning and end of this unique event and examination of the first five master theses produced by GLOMAS students. The findings suggest that the camp was largely successful in terms of advancing creative artistry, intercultural understanding and pedagogical competence via both traditional and experimental fusion musicianship that transcends cultural boundaries. The conclusions illustrate how similar programmes might be implemented in other settings to enhance the diversity and relevance of music teacher training.