FOSTERING ARTISTIC IDENTITY THROUGH UZBEK MUSIC PEDAGOGY AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Abstract

Artistic identity, understood as the musician’s sense of who they are in relation to their artistic heritage, their creative agency, and their professional community, is not automatically transmitted through technical training. A student may graduate from a university music program possessing considerable instrumental or vocal skill yet remain uncertain about their place within the Uzbek musical tradition or their capacity to contribute meaningfully to its future. This article argues that fostering artistic identity should be recognized as a central, explicit goal of Uzbek music pedagogy at the university level, rather than a hoped‑for byproduct of skills acquisition. Drawing on theories of identity formation in educational psychology and ethnomusicology, as well as case studies from the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan and regional pedagogical universities, the article proposes that artistic identity emerges from the integration of three interconnected dimensions: historical continuity, creative agency, and community belonging. For each dimension, the article describes pedagogical practices that strengthen identity formation, including genealogical repertoire study, guided improvisation within maqom and folk frameworks, ensemble participation with intergenerational components, and reflective writing assignments that ask students to articulate their evolving relationship to Uzbek musical heritage. The article also addresses challenges specific to the Uzbek context, such as the lingering prestige of Western classical training, the fragmentation of traditional master‑student lineages, and the pressure on students to achieve measurable performance outcomes at the expense of deeper identity work. The conclusion offers practical recommendations for curriculum design and assessment that prioritize artistic identity without sacrificing technical rigor.