Questioning Conservatories Cultural Legitimacy: An Investigation of Dutch and French Networks of Music Education

Abstract

Conservatories, emblematic institutions of music education, symbolise a form of expertise and sometimes even of excellence, which professional musicians inherit as a result of what could be regarded as a “rite of passage”. Indeed, the conservatory has mainly guaranteed access to the musical “field”1 and legitimated musicians for centuries in the entire world, thus embodying the role of gatekeeper. This thesis explores the role of the conservatory in the field of music education, and its potential structural challenges in relation to the internationalisation of higher music education, the emergence of new technologies in the music sector and a gradual decrease of national power on arts education. Based on data collected during my ethnographic investigation (a multi-sited fieldwork in the Netherlands and in Paris) and, on the other hand, on theoretical contributions regarding music education, I will therefore intend to deconstruct the cultural legitimacy of conservatories while highlighting epistemological issues encountered during my research. Considering conservatories as the most legitimate path to become a professional musician implies questioning the significance of musical practices occurring in these traditional institutions, especially in a changing music industry. 1