University of Bremen and Sophie Drinker Institut Start Exciting cooperation

University of Bremen and Sophie Drinker Institut Start Exciting cooperation

Bremen, Deutschland - The research center of historical music education at the University of Bremen has concluded a new cooperation agreement with the Sophie Drinker Institute (SDI). The formal agreement signed on April 8, 2025 is the result of many years of collaboration and aims to create synergies in research, teaching and scientific qualifications. Prof. Dr. Freia Hoffmann from SDI and Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Cvetko from the University of Bremen will work closely together in this context. University of Bremen reports that the SDI primarily with lectures and project-oriented cooperation Brings expertise.

A central element of the agreement is the support of scientific staff at the University of Bremen in their qualification work, including doctorates and habilitations. In addition, joint teaching activities in the form of teaching orders for SDI members and joint courses are planned.

resource exchange and new impulses

Both partners grant access to research resources and institutions in order to further intensify scientific cooperation. The rector of the University of Bremen, Prof. Dr. Jutta Günther has personally signed the agreement, which underlines the importance of this agreement. The SDI, which has initially specialized in musicology women and gender research since it was founded in 2001, has now expanded its field of work to cultural-historical aspects and pedagogical perspectives.

One of the achievements of the SDI is the online lexicon of European instrumentalists from the 18th and 19th centuries, which makes an important contribution to the visibility of historical female music creators. In addition, a three -volume manual on the history of the German -language conservatories in the 19th century, which was published by Laaber Verlag, was published in 2021. The institute also publishes a series of publications and collects literature on musicology gender research.

insight into gender issues in music

Another aspect that comes up in the context of the cooperation is the book "Sound and Sexism - Gender in Sound Popular Music" (2018), which illuminates gender dimensionality in pop music. According to the research results, which are presented in a further book post on feminist music education, it can be seen that girls in particular are disadvantaged when accessing rock music by gender stereotypes and socialization mechanisms. The topic of gender distribution among teachers is also treated critically, as shown in a study on gender distribution in composition, electro -acoustic composition and music theory at German universities. Here the proportion of women in composition is only 14.5 %.

These topics are of great relevance, since they can contribute to questioning gender roles and stereotypes in music and promoting transformative approaches in music pedagogy. The SDI and the University of Bremen are then committed to a more critical examination of gender and sexual images in popular music and consider these questions as essential elements of their cooperation.

The signing of the cooperation agreement not only marks an important step in the cooperation between the two institutions, but also an order to further promote gender research in music and to develop innovative ways in music education. The exchange of resources and knowledge is expected to lead to new impulses for research and teaching.