Welcome Message

History establishes the grounding of people, place, and purpose. The story of ISME has been rich and diverse for more than 70 years. These are the people who established us and continue to sustain our mission, the places around the globe that served as stages, and the purpose of music teaching and learning which has impacted thousands over decades. This is the tapestry of ISME and we are fortunate to be a part of this history and molding our story into the future. Consider taking a deeper look at your organization, whether on this page, the history elsewhere on the site, our book by Marie McCarthy, Toward a Global Community: The International Society for Music Education 1953-2003, or other articles and research about our collective experience. And now, you become part of our history; what story do you have to add moving into our future?

HSC Mission

The mission of the History Standing Committee is to identify and create opportunities to celebrate and showcase the history of the Society and music education internationally. To accomplish this mission, the work of the committee will include:

• Acting as a liaison between the ISME Board and the Curator of the Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland where the ISME archives are housed
• Encouraging ISME officers to submit materials to the ISME archives
• Submitting all documents created by the Committee to the archives
• Soliciting grants for developing and maintaining the archives
• Recommending policies, guidelines and criteria to the Board on how ISME may effectively document the history of the Society and music education internationally
• Planning and offering history sessions at the ISME biennial world conference
• Maintaining and updating a history section within the ISME website
• Producing historical materials that can be disseminated in ISME publications, journals, newsletters and the ISME web
• Interviewing prominent music educators worldwide, so that their contribution can be properly recognized and documented in articles and resources produced by the Society
• Serving as a resource for ISME members who are interested in historical aspects of music education internationally
• Developing closer ties with national organisations and other networks that have an interest in historical issues in music education internationally

 Current Members (2024-26)

Related Links

• ISME Brief History
• HSC Online Café (Apr24)
• Toward a Global Community
• Sociomusicology and Education
• SEM Historical Ethnomusicology
• Journal of Historical Research in Music Education
• ISME-SCPA Archives at University of Maryland (USA)

International History of Music Education Site

The History Standing Committee manages a dedicated repository which outlines the history of music education in global context. Gratitude to Robin Stevens (Emeritus Professor, Melbourne Conservatory, Australia) who founded, designed, and maintained this site for many years. Information here focuses on numerous countries, traditions, and pedagogies on music teaching and learning around the world. The IHME Website can be accessed here: IHME