Intercultural musical learning in the era of technology

Foreign students abroad need to feel integrated in the new community, which includes complex learning processes in multicultural environments. The fact that we have experienced these processes ourselves was certainly a motivation for this research, especially knowing that we could contribute to help our fellow Portuguese brass players undergoing the same experience. From the singularity of music performance in the style of playing and communication emerge many cultural aspects, which have been developed through centuries of orchestral practice. As the new students are confronted with the aesthetic musical concepts and both professional and social practices of the country they arrive in, they strive to understand these concepts and adapt themselves to the values promoted by the new music practice. The aim of this on-going research is the study of the integration of brass music students in German universities and in the German society. Notably, through the understanding of intercultural processes experienced by the students, professors can become more aware of the challenges that concern music education. In this research all ten Portuguese brass students enrolled in any German music university in the last five years were interviewed in order to deeply understand this process. With a growing importance of the technological facilities, students are able to gather more information, to prepare themselves for the new concepts they try to embrace and to better deal with a different culture.