Anna Backman Bister
Anna Backman Bister is a Senior Lecturer in Music Education at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and holds a PhD in Music Education, with a focus on individual adaptation in ensemble playing. She is a trained music and Swedish teacher with more than 20 years of experience as a music teacher in various school settings, including special schools and upper secondary school. She is also a qualified special needs teacher specializing in intellectual disabilities, and her research and practice address special education subject didactics in music.
About the researcher
Anna Backman Bister is Senior Lecturer in Music Education at KMH and responsible for the practicum (VFU) courses in the music teacher education program. She teaches courses in special education, music pedagogy, and research methodology, and supervises theses.
She defended her PhD in 2014 at KMH with a practice-based dissertation on ensemble teaching. Practice-based research, often using filmed classroom situations, is a recurring theme in her work. Backman Bister has long experience as a music teacher in upper secondary schools and special education contexts, where she has developed student-adapted performances in collaboration with colleagues, production companies, and community partners. She has also worked internationally with student exchanges and music projects, as well as over 20 years as a church musician.
Since 2018, she has led KMH’s involvement in the national ULF project on practice-based research in music education, which among other outcomes resulted in the anthology "A Prima Vista". She is a member of KMH’s Board (2024–2028) and the Equality Council. In autumn 2025, she will serve as one of the supervisors for KMH’s jubilee doctoral students.
Anna Backman Bister has been part of the Swedish National Agency for Education’s expert group for music, contributing to curricula and commentary materials for compulsory and special needs schools (2019–2021).
Research Description
ULF Project – Practice-Based Research in Music Education
Backman Bister is responsible for and leads KMH’s part of the national network for practice-based research. Within this framework, she directs the sub-project MELLO, focusing on music education in special schools
Music Education in Special Needs Schools
In 2024–2025, Anna Backman Bister participates in an interdisciplinary project developing models to strengthen music teachers’ competence in special needs schools. The project addresses both the shortage of qualified teachers and the need to enhance knowledge development in teaching. It is run in collaboration with researchers at Stockholm University.
Lyssna till mitt öga (Listen to My Eye)
Anna Backman Bister leads an accompanying research study connected to the project "Lyssna till mitt öga", which explores how people who communicate through eye-tracking can make music. The study focuses on participants’ experiences of creating music with eye-controlled instruments, using interviews conducted via eye-tracking. The aim is to develop methods and pedagogical materials for teaching with this technology.
InclusME
Since 2023, Anna Backman Bister, together with Veronika Phung, has led the InclusME focus group within the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS). The group works on music education research related to inclusion and brings together researchers and teachers in international collaboration. The work has already resulted in book chapters and annual symposia at the EAS conference.
MITIS and Notysing
From 2018–2021, Anna Backman Bister took part in the research project "Musical IT in Schools" (MITIS) together with music teachers, KMH, and the company DoReMIR. The project resulted in the app Notysing, a digital tool for developing music reading skills, created in collaboration between researchers, teachers, and students.
SASWE – barriers to higher music Education in Africa and Sweden
SASWE is an international research project between the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Four researchers investigate barriers and enablers for higher music education in the two countries. The project is based on interviews with students, alumni, and staff at both universities. From the Swedish side, the project is led by Anna Backman Bister.