Hanna Backer Johnsen
Researcher and producer in the field of music and music education
About
Hanna Backer Johnsen is a Doctoral Researcher in music education at the Doctoral School of the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland. Her research focuses on students’ voices, radical inclusion, belonging and social justice within the Finnish music school system. She critically examines the possibilities and challenges of social innovations in music edcuation: while they can promote inclusion, they may also reproduce inequality if students’ musical ecosystems are not taken into account. A central part of her doctoral work is the Floora project (2013–2023) within the Finnish music school system, enhancing accessibility for new student groups that traditionally have been excluded from music school studies.
Backer Johnsen has recently co-authored a chapter titled “The Paradox of Social Innovations within Music Schools: Taking Critical Responsibility in Transformative Practice” in the book The Transformative Politics of Music Education (Routledge). She is a member of the steering group of the Nordic Research Network for Culture Schools (Cutting Edge) and the European Network for Music School Research. Before her doctoral studies, she worked as the Executive Director (2008–2017) of the Martin Wegelius Institute (www.mwi.fi) and has more than twenty years of experience in the music education field as an administrator and music project manager. She holds a master’s degree in musicology from Åbo Akademi University (2003).