Over the last 15 years a significant strand of research on higher education has focused on the effects of globalisation and the internationalisation of degree courses. Though international exchange can make strong claims to offering benefits to students, professors and institutions alike, a significant rationale behind the increasing internationalisation of higher education is economic necessity. Cuts to government funding have resulted in what has been called the marketisation of the sector and the growth of a British education, in both increasing numbers of visiting students and in exporting our degrees by offering courses in satellite institutions, has been successful as a business model.
With music positioned as an international language transcending national barriers, conservatoires are well placed to capitalise on this modern trend with [big] recruitment drives in East Asia designed to [benefit] from the popularity of classical music in China and surrounding countries. This paper examines some of the cultural, political and ethical implications of the internationalisation of conservatoires. Taking writings on post-colonial theory (Bhabha, Spivak) as a starting point, I question the assumed innocence of classical music as a readily exportable international language, and explore how ideas of glocalisation, cosmopolitanism and intercultural performance could enrich the conservatoire environment by offering an equitable exchange between host and visiting cultures with the potential to renew traditions and develop the conservatoire as a creative and critical space.