From November 20 until December 1, 2023, the UP Center for Ethnomusicology (UPCE) (through University Research Associate II David Dino Guadalupe) and the Music Education Department of the UP College of Music (CMu) (through chairperson Asst. Prof. Anna Patricia Carranza) hosted Dr. Sezen Özeke, a music education professor from Bursa Uludağ University, Türkiye and a board member of the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS). Dr. Özeke’s visit was sponsored by the World Expert Lecture Series (WELS) program of the UP Office for International Linkages (OIL), which supports “eminent world leaders and artists from the academe, government, and industry in giving special lectures or performances in UP to further expose and inspire students, faculty, and staff and in support of the internationalization goals of the university” (see https://oil.up.edu.ph/guidelines/wels/about-wels/). Dr. Özeke specializes in comparative music education, Orff and Kodaly music education methodologies, and community music education. An administrator at the Bursa Uludağ University, she serves as the Erasmus Assistant Institutional Coordinator, International Relations Coordinator, the head of the Fine Arts Department, and the Turkish National Coordinator of the European Jazz School Project.
As part of the WELS program, Dr. Özeke conducted the workshop “Contextualizing Orff Methodology in the Classroom '' for the music education students of Prof. Jesher Perez and Dr. Joan Elgincolin. Highlighting the Orff method, the event used the resources of the CMu’s Orff Schulwerke Instrumentarium, which came from the Orff Institute in Austria’s Mozarteum University. Co-presenting with Dr. Jocelyn Guadalupe in an online webinar attended by graduate students and teachers from the Philippines, China, Indonesia, and Myanmar, Dr. Özeke gave an overview of the Turkish primary and secondary music education system and compared it with its Philippine counterpart in the K+12 levels. In addition, Dr.Özeke held a lecture and demonstration of Turkish music and dance at the UPCE library for students and teachers. An estimated 100 students of musicology and music education, as well as in-service teachers from schools like the UST Conservatory of Music, Dela Salle University, Silliman University, New Era University, Sta. Isabel College of Music, Miriam College, and College of the Holy Spirit, attended from these events. Further, Dr. Özeke met with OIL then officer-in-charge Dr. Percival Almoro, and OIL international program officer Mr. Justin Noel Alcantara to present on the Erasmus program and possible music partnerships between Bursa Uludağ University, the CMu on music education and jazz music, and the UPCE on music research. Dean LaVerne C. de la Peña and CMu administrators also attended this meeting.
Dr. Özeke’s activities extended to other musical settings and UP institutions. She observed a UP Integrated School high school music class and met with Dean Jerome Buenviaje of the UP College Education and his team. She also met Datu Waway Saway, the inaugural culture-bearer-in-residence of the UP Diliman. Dr. Özeke jammed with the Musika Sophia Early Music Ensemble, observed the rehearsals of Taytay, Rizal’s Banda Uno 1875, played Cordillera bamboo music instruments in Asian music ensemble classes at the CMu, and watched the culminating concert of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists at the Metropolitan Theatre. These activities helped explore close ties between education and musical experience.
Through the WELs program, Dr. Özeke’s residence allowed local music educators to reflect on the Western and Asian music-cultural influences that inform teaching approaches to Philippine music. Her presence stirred excitement at the possibility of forging deep connections between the CMu and the UPCE in music pedagogy toward greater intercultural understanding and scholarship.
----Jocelyn T. Guadalupe