ABSTRACT

This chapter offers an invitation to engage in dynamic contemporary professionalism in music, both individually and collectively, as a powerful engine of development for the discipline itself and for professional higher music education where the next generations of practitioners may be nurtured. Contemporary societal changes can thus be experienced both in terms of intense challenges and limitless potential for music. The developments are happening as contemporary contexts for professional practice are more often than not becoming increasingly fluid and unpredictable, as well as multidisciplinary and collaborative, and new practices are emerging. It is necessary to develop such expanding understanding of professionalism in music that can inform professionals and higher education institutions about how professional practices can be articulated within societies reflecting more than one rationality. Discourses of expertise in music education thus moved away from social engagement, social impact, or community building. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.