Huib Schippers argues that the history of ethnomusicology shows an organic development towards public-facing work, and discusses the skill sets needed in the field to improve lives through music. Abstract: An interesting thing happened to ethnomusicology on its way to the 21st century. While beginnings in the 1800s kept it carefully away from direct interaction with the people who make music, culture and context became increasingly important in the second half of the 20th century. Towards 2000, an awareness had dawned that the musicians we work with and their communities perhaps should be at the center of our efforts. This first manifested as “giving back” research outputs (such as recordings) to the community, and later expanded into working with communities on an equal footing to serve their agendas in and through music. In this talk, I will argue that this very short history constitutes an organic development towards public-facing work, and discuss how applied ethnomusicologists require new skill sets to engage successfully with an exciting range of contemporary applied work in the realms of social justice, health, institutions, media, cultural sustainability and crisis recovery. Bio: Huib Schippers is one of the world’s leading scholars on the crossroads of music education, community music, music industry, cultural diversity, and sustainability. In over three decades of leadership roles in arts and academia, he founded the World Music School in Amsterdam (1990-1996), the World Music & Dance Centre in Rotterdam (2001-2006), and Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre in Australia (2003-2015). Next, he directed Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (2016-2020), served as UC Regents’ Professor at UCLA (2022) and as Visiting Professor at CCOM in Beijing (2023). In 2025, he was proclaimed Distinguished Changjiang Professor and became Founding Director of the International Centre for Cultural Sustainability at Zhaoqing University in China. Schippers has initiated applied projects on five continents and published over 200 publications for scholarly and general audiences, mostly on cultural diversity, artistic research, systems of learning, and cultural sustainability, including Facing the Music: Shaping Music Education from a Global Perspective (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2010); Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures (OUP, 2016) and Music, Communities, Sustainability (OUP, 2022).

Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as we welcome pianist Elizabeth Schumann for the Fall installment of our 2026/27 David L. Abell Piano Master Series, a concert series which features renowned artists visiting UCLA to perform and work with our piano students.   About Elizabeth Schumann: Dr. Elizabeth Schumann is a concert pianist, educator, and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans leading concert halls, public art initiatives, and research at the intersection of the arts, technology, and human performance. Described by The Washington Post as “deft, relentless, and devastatingly good—the sort of performance you experience not so much with your ears as your solar plexus,” she approaches the concert stage as a place where artistry and inquiry meet, offering audiences experiences that link music with the broader human story. ​ As a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist, she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Vienna’s Bösendorfer Saal, Weill at Carnegie Hall, Montreal’s Place des Arts, San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Musical Instruments Museum in Phoenix, Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series, Australia’s Huntington Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. Her performances have been featured on NPR’s Performance Today, PBS, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Honors include the Gilmore Young Artist Award, first prizes at the Bösendorfer and Pacific International Piano Competitions, and awards at the Cleveland, Hilton Head, Montreal, and World International Piano Competitions. ​ Her portfolio extends beyond traditional concert work to collaborative projects that place music in fresh contexts. She has developed touring productions that integrate performance with narrative and visual design, large-scale public installations that transform city spaces into concert venues, and educational programs for children and underserved communities that pair music with literature and live storytelling. These include Piano Carnival, which grew from a 15-city tour into a book, CD, and interactive applications reaching more than 20,000 students and teachers; Son et Lumière, premiered at Boston’s Illuminus Festival and later commissioned for the Pike & Rose Audio Visual Arts Festival, attracting audiences of over 8,000; and Pianimal, a concert and video series presented across the United States and distributed to children’s hospitals through partnerships with leading arts organizations. Across these projects, her aim is to allow audiences to meet music on their own terms and to experience its power without barriers of price or pretense. Her work has also reached international audiences through U.S. Embassy cultural diplomacy programs, building connections and mutual understanding through performance. ​ Carrying on the pedagogical tradition of her teacher, Sergei Babayan, Dr. Schumann has taught at Winter and Summer Performing Arts at The Juilliard School, Itzhak Perlman’s Perlman Music Program, the Crowden Chamber Music Workshop, and the Vancouver Piano Sessions. She is the Billie Bennett Director of Keyboard Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Stanford University, where she combines conservatory-level training with insights from neuroscience, psychology, and biomechanics to help pianists achieve expressive freedom while minimizing injury risk. At Stanford, her research examines how physiology, pedagogy, and instrument design shape performance, with applications that extend beyond the arts to fields such as medicine, rehabilitation, and human performance science. ​ Through collaborations that unite artists, scientists, and community leaders, Dr. Schumann expands how people encounter and engage with music. Her work demonstrates how these connections can open new possibilities, deepen understanding, and inspire contributions that reach beyond the concert hall.