Music in the Life, Life in the Music

In 1997, the Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research (APSMER) was founded by Prof. Tadahiro Murao, Prof. Hongsoo Lee, and Prof Gary McPherson; respectively from Japan, Korea, and Australia. Instigated by the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the name ASPMER, was conjured by Prof. Gary McPherson. With the intention to provide an opportunity for educators in music education, graduate students, and Asia-Pacific researchers to gather every two years, APSMER became a regional conference of ISME in 2007 for the Asia-Pacific Region.

The objectives of the symposium are twofold: (1) Enable knowledge and experience sharing amongst music educators within the Asia-Pacific region; and (2) Catalyze collaborative efforts in advancing music education in its theory and practice whilst providing a space for participants to develop stringent networks.

Hosted in Seoul, APSMER 2023 will be the 14th Symposium held to date. The conference has been held in the following cities in the past: Seoul (1997), Launceston (1999), Nagoya (2001), Hong Kong (2003), Seattle (2005), Bangkok (2007), Shanghai (2009), Taipei (2011), Singapore (2013), Hong Kong (2015), Melaka (2017), Macau (2019), and Tokyo (2021).