Our University has appointed Prof. Dr. Ivo Berg as Professor of Instrumental and Vocal Music Education (IGP). Drawing on his many years of experience in music education research and university teaching, he will from 1 November 2026 be responsible for shaping the training of trainee teachers in the field of IGP at the HMTM’s Institute for Music Education.
Ivo Berg’s appointment forms part of a comprehensive reform of degree courses with a teaching profile at the HMTM. Work has been underway for around a year to further develop the bachelor’s degree programmes: the focus on music education, methodology and didactics is being strengthened. Improvisation and composition are set to play a more prominent role in the curriculum, as are popular music, ethnomusicology and a strong practical focus in collaboration with music schools. The revised Bachelor’s degree courses are scheduled to be available from the 2027/28 winter term. In doing so, the HMTM is also responding to the findings of the nationwide »MiKADO-Musik« study, which was published in November 2025 and provides concrete figures underpinning a striking shortage of music school teachers by 2035.
Ivo Berg’s work focuses precisely on this:
»The ›MiKADO-Musik‹ study raises many questions, particularly for conservatoires: How can we inspire more students to pursue careers in education? How can we demonstrate that artistic practice and its teaching are two sides of the same coin? How can we highlight an attractive career path and better prepare students for a changing professional landscape? I am very much looking forward to working with all colleagues and students at the HMTM to develop answers to these questions, launch projects and make a difference. In doing so, close collaboration with the various music schools in the local area is very important to me. One particularly exciting and promising area for me, for example, is the cooperation between music schools and general education schools within the framework of all-day schooling. I see a great deal of potential here.«
A constant point of reference in his work as an educator and scholar is the question of the essence of music-making. Ivo Berg has published on the perception and teaching of musical tension, on musical gesture and embodiment, and on the performance practice of early and contemporary music. Furthermore, Berg is particularly interested in the historical and present socio-political dimensions of music education. Alongside his work at the university, he is committed to public music schools, the promotion of young talent and the further development of teaching and learning formats.
Ivo Berg attaches particular importance to the link between musical practice and educational reflection. As an instrumental teacher and active musician, he has extensive experience in a variety of musical and educational contexts. For many years, he has been active as a recorder player and singer with the Nusmido ensemble in the field of early music, whilst also pursuing his passion for new, experimental and improvised music.
Prior to his appointment at the HMTM, Ivo Berg was Professor of Music Education at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), where he was head of Music Education degree courses at the Faculty of Music. Before that, he worked as a lecturer in IGP at the Lübeck University of Music and as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Ivo Berg studied Instrumental Music Education with a major in the recorder at the University of the Arts Bremen and completed a postgraduate programme in Early Music at the Fontys Conservatoire in Tilburg (NL). As part of his doctoral studies at the Berlin University of the Arts, he also studied Philosophy at the University of Bremen. He rounded off his teaching training with a certificate in Early Musical Education at the Gordon Institute in Freiburg. In 2013, he was awarded a PhD in Music Education from the Berlin University of the Arts.
