The ICOM Vision

This website describes the emerging vision for a new research center, tentatively called the International Center for Originality in Music (ICOM), to be developed in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Blues, jazz, and rock and roll are notable music genres that all originated in the southern Mississippi region and have attained popularity throughout the world.

At the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg, the proposed International Center for Originality in Music (ICOM) would promote research projects, performances, and educational initiatives that celebrate these local traditions, as well as other examples of originality in music around the world: innovative artists in emerging genres, new music technologies, and creative approaches to music pedagogy. The International Center for Originality in Music (ICOM) would aim to have a local, national, and international impact on knowledge and public policy as a multi-faceted center of musical creativity, innovation, and cultural exchange.

Activities to be sponsored by ICOM could include:

(1) Research on local examples of originality in American music (blues, jazz, and rock and roll), including both historical and current practices of musicianship and pedagogy

(2) Educational outreach through institutional partnerships, curriculum development, translation projects, and online learning

(3) Projects that celebrate contemporary examples of originality in musical practices around the world, including new genres, innovative technologies, and pioneering pedagogical advancements in other nations.

ICOM would be governed by a committee at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music, advised by an International Advisory Board (including notable musicians, scholars, educators, and music industry executives), and locally managed by the ICOM Director. External funding would be sought from multiple sources, including state and national governmental bodies, public and private sector foundations, and music industry sources (both in the USA and Japan). Ideally, ICOM would be launched in formal partnership with other organizations to nurture synergy with local resources (e.g. Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame, Blues Archive of University of Mississippi Libraries, etc.), and would engage a broad international network (e.g. Glomus: Global Network for Higher Music Education). ICOM would also seek to collaborate on projects with other units of the University of Southern Mississippi, including its Center for Research in Creative Learning.

Prospective ICOM Projects (long-term vision):

1. Research outputs (including scholarly books, doctoral dissertations and refereed journal articles) and pedagogical publications
2. Virtual center/website with ICOM newsletter and online music lessons
3. Concert series of contemporary composers and songwriters, both supporting local creative artists and attracting guests from afar
4. Hosting of national/international music conferences and symposia
5. International research fellowships for Visiting Scholar residencies
6. Artist in Residence program for performers of Southern roots music
7. Nomination panel to offer international awards for Original Achievement in Music (performance, technology, research and pedagogy)

Location of ICOM

School of Music, University of Southern Mississippi

ICOM will be affiliated with the School of Music at University of Southern Mississippi.

University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is ideally situated - in the original heartland of American musical innovation - for studies of American music traditions that will be of interest to musicians and educators throughout the USA and other parts of the world. For anyone interested in the roots of blues, jazz, or rock, this is a perfect setting for research, since each of these important genres originated in this region of the United States, and have since served as a foundation for much of the world's popular music.

USM is a public institution located about 80 minutes northeast of New Orleans that has a strong history for music programs (including winds, jazz, and music industry studies) and is nationally designated as a research-extensive university. The School of Music at University of Southern Mississippi is the only doctoral-degree granting music school in the state, and the university is considered a leading research institution of the Gulf South region.

Mississippi is a globally significant location for original music, as the source of innovative performers that have forged new styles and made a substantial impact on music in much of the world. Musicians from Mississippi include leading blues performers Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Bo Diddley, W. C. Handy, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King, pioneers of rock and roll Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, jazz legends Lester Young, Hank Jones, and Gerald Wilson, contemporary jazz masters Tom Malone, Mulgrew Miller, Mose Allison, and Cassandra Wilson, pioneers of country music Jimmie Rodgers and Charley Pride, renowned songwriters like Jimmy Buffett, and even revered art music composers such as William Grant Still and Milton Babbitt.

The following content is from the USM School of Music official website:

The University of Southern Mississippi School of Music has a longstanding international reputation for musical excellence. The school is recognized for its eminence in musical artistry, education and community service. Serving more than 475 majors from the United States and 15 countries, the school maintains a strongly diverse student population. In fact, we have granted a higher percentage of music doctorates to African-American students than any other institution of higher learning in the country. We are the only doctoral degree-granting School of Music in Mississippi and one of only 28 comprehensive doctoral-degree-granting Schools of Music in the 500-plus NASM accredited music schools.
We have a strong record of placement for our graduates into competitive jobs and graduate programs. We have trained many of this region’s finest educators, and our alumni have found professional performing work in a variety of places from the Rascher Saxophone Quartet to the English National Opera. Also, many of our alumni hold positions as ensemble directors and studio teachers at major universities across the country and overseas.
The School of Music provides a wealth of valuable opportunities for the professional and artistic growth of our students. Our faculty members perform at major venues around the world and teach at international festivals and conferences every year. Our ensembles host important guest artists from Manuel Barrueco to Plácido Domingo, Yo-Yo Ma, John Browning, Jean Pierre Rampal, Denyce Graves, Christopher Parkening, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Doc Severinsen, Sir James Galway, Joshua Bell, and Ray Charles.


Click HERE to return to the ICOM main page.

ICOM Director

Prof. David G. Hebert

Associate Professor of Music Education, University of Southern Mississippi

Ph.D., University of Washington
M.A., University of Washington
B.A., Pacific University

E-mail: David.Hebert@usm.edu
Phone: 601.266.5349

Dr. David G. Hebert intends to serve as founding Director of the International Center for Originality in Music (ICOM).

Professor Hebert is a music teacher educator with expertise in research methods, multicultural music education, global studies, and historical ethnomusicology. His research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as the processes by which new musical traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Professor Hebert’s artistic background includes professional work as a conductor, jazz musician and songwriter, areas in which he continues to be active. Across the past 15 years he has worked on four continents: as Professor of Music for the Sibelius Academy, where he mentored doctoral research and coordinated development of the Nordic Master of Global Music program (in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark); as Master Lecturer for the Boston University School of Music, where he directed doctoral dissertations and taught for its online graduate program; as Visiting Research Scholar for Japan's National Institutes for the Humanities (Nichibunken, Kyoto); as Head of Music for the multi-campus Maori college Te Wananga O Aotearoa (New Zealand); and as a music lecturer for Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia). He has also been a middle school music teacher for Seattle Public Schools (USA), and has obtained grants from several state governments and foundations.

He serves as Editorial Board member of Research and Issues in Music Education, Research in New Zealand Performing Arts, Journal of Music and Meaning, Musical Perspectives, and the Finnish Journal of Music Education, and is former Associate Editor of International Journal of Education and the Arts. Professor Hebert’s music research is frequently cited, and includes articles in 15 different refereed journals and chapters in such books as Oxford Handbook of Music Education (forthcoming), Sociology and Music Education, Music Education for Changing Times, Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education (vol. 1 & 2), De-Canonizing Music History, Alta Musica, Music of Japan Today, and the proceedings of Music, Orality, Roots, Europe (Cite de la Musique, Paris). Professor Hebert’s forthcoming book Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools: An Ethnography and Social History examines the experiences of participants in the world's largest music competition, and he is also co-author of a book manuscript entitled Patriotism and Nationalism in Music Education, now under editorial review.

He was an invited Keynote Lecturer for the Nordic Network for Music Education (2008, Finland) and Nordic Network for Research in Music Education (2009, Sweden), Band Director for the All-State Honor Band of Connecticut Independent Schools (2008), and Expert Reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education, adjudicating applications to its 2008 Professional Development for Arts Educators major grants program. He currently serves as Chair (2009-2011) of the Historical Ethnomusicology Special Interest Group, Society for Ethnomusicology. Over 200 doctoral students have completed Professor Hebert’s research methods courses, and he has personally mentored 5 music students to completion of their doctorates in the USA and Europe.

Website: http://www.sociomusicology.blogspot.com/.

Click HERE to return to the ICOM main page.