Estelle Ruth Jorgensen
Estelle Jorgensen is
Professor of Music in the Department of Music Education at the Jacobs School of
Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she teaches graduate courses in
music education, has served as chair of that program, and is presently editor
of the Philosophy of Music Education Review. Prior to going to IU,
Jorgensen taught music in grade schools in Canada and at McGill University in
Montreal, where she was a Professor of Music and chair of the School Music
Department.
Hailed as one of the most
respected leaders in and writers about all aspects of music education,
Jorgensen has authored four thoughtful and acclaimed books on the subject and
is a frequent contributor to leading research journals in music education
internationally. Additionally, she is the founding chair of the Philosophy
Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) of the Music Educators National
Conference (MENC) and the founding co-chair of the International Society for
the Philosophy of Music Education.
Jorgensen has led or contributed
to eight international symposia in the philosophy of music in the U.S., Canada,
the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland since 1990. In addition to
presentations in these countries, she has also lectured in Sweden, Japan, and
Australia.
Her first book, In Search
of Music Education (1997) was described as "provocative and
stimulating . . . [a] work that secures Jorgensen’s position in the elite
league of the few who truly challenge problems facing music education."
Her second book, Transforming Music Education (2003) was praised as
"Brilliant . . . It is a must -read, for it awakens thoughts about why we
teach and how."1
The Art of Teaching Music (2008) encourages music educators to
examine what they do and why they do it and also discusses the realities of
teaching music. At the time of the release of Pictures of Music Education in
2011, Jorgensen observed:
As
soon as I made an end of this one, so many compelling questions emerged that I
must make a beginning on another! I became convinced that music education
cannot continue its business as usual, but that music teachers, students, and
those interested in their work need to envisage the task differently in the
future.2
Jorgensen was born and raised
in Australia, the daughter of Alfred S. Jorgensen, a pastor and lecturer at
Avondale College. She completed a B.A. with honors at Newcastle University in
1966 and a Diploma of Education from Newcastle Teachers' College in 1967.
She graduated from Andrews
University with an M.Mus. in piano and music education
in 1970 and completed a Ph.D. in education administration at the University of
Calgary, Canada, in 1976. In recognition of her contributions to music
education, she was named a Fellow in the Philosophy of Music Education Society
and awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Andrews University in 1995.
1 quotations
are from reviews by Patricia Shehan Campbell,
University of Washington, author of Lessons from the World: A Cross-Cultural
Guide to Music Teaching and Learning. 2 From a release by the IU
School of Music, 16 November 2011.
ds/2012
Sources:
Biography at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (2012); Online reviews and observations about her books; IU Jacobs
School of Music publicity release for Pictures of Music Education, 11
November 2011. Australasian Record: 23 November 1970, 16; 14 March 1977,
10; 9 September 1995, 12.