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Christina Ekström

Senior Lecturer

Classical Music and Church Music
Telephone
+46 31-786 63 15
+46 766-18 63 15
Mail
christina.ekstrom@hsm.gu.se
Visiting address
Eklandagatan 86
41259 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 210
Göteborg

About Christina Ekström

Christina Ekström is an associate professor and lecturer in musical interpretation and performance at the Academy of Music and Drama, as well as holding a PhD in musicology with an artistic-creative focus. In the autumn of 2019, Christina was awarded the Harald Göransson Scholarship by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The scholarship was motivated by "her extensive and versatile studies of music and the musical life within the Moravian community, a movement strongly emphasizing the emotional side of faith, with music playing a key role. Her research resourcefully combines musicological and artistic methods and forms of presentation, while also highlighting sociological, religious-psychological, and hymnological aspects. Christina Ekström is an internationally recognized specialist in this field of research."

At the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg, Christina works as a Programme Supervisor, lecturer, and music researcher. The task of Programme Supervisor involves the management and development of three educational programmes, all in the field of church music. These are the Bachelor's Programme in Church Music, Master's Programme in Choral Conducting, and Master's Programme in Organ and Related Keyboard Instruments. The role as Programme Supervisor means having an eye on both the present and the future; to enable the activities to run smoothly for both students and lecturers, and to promote change and development so that the education is constantly relevant to the church music profession and the surrounding society. Teaching duties vary between academic years. However, supervision and examination of independent projects are recurring tasks.

Since the dissertation, Christina´s research has centered around music within Pietist devotional traditions. Among these traditions, the one stemming from the Moravian Church (Evangelische Brüdergemeine) has been the primary focus. In articles and conference presentations, she has addressed hymnological, musicological, music-pedagogical, and artistic issues. An ongoing project currently in its final phase explores women's music-making within the Brødremenigheden in Christiansfeld. Christiansfeld is a town in southern Jutland, built by the Evangelische Brüdergemeine in 1772 at the request of King Christian VII. The town was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015 for its tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The project will culminate in the publication of a book in the autumn of 2025. The book, titled Female Musicking in the Moravian Church: Insights to and Outlooks from Hidden Rooms in Christiansfeld, will be published by Syddansk Universitetsforlag.

Further ongoing research is centred on the New Evangelical Revival (Nyevangelism) in the 19th century, with Per Ulrik Stenhammar's life and work in focus. Based on the Per Ulrik Stenhammar festival, held at Ersta kulturscen, Stockholm, in 2022, work is underway on an interdisciplinary anthology (programme book from the festival, see: https://www.erstadiakoni.se/globalassets/verksamheter/kyrka-och-musik/evenemang/ersta-kyrka-150-ar.pdf). Researchers in various subjects - theology, art history, artistic research, and musicology - are involved.

Although my roles and tasks are varied, they are all united by a shared interest in the field of church music.