Create An Opera! was a fortnightly devising workshop led by the author at Theatre Delicatessen studios in London in 2017–20. It was free to the general public and attracted participants including both experienced and inexperienced performance practitioners. It aimed to create a safe, inclusive environment for experimentation in writing, composition and collaborative performance. This initiative arose from the author’s interest in challenging the sociopolitical traditions and hierarchical infrastructures associated with opera production. Inspired by the ethos of devised theatre, the workshops created a space for participants to be involved in both creative and performance aspects, working individually and collaboratively. This article presents the pedagogical and creative methodologies informing the delivery of the workshops, focusing on inclusion, collaboration and independent creativity.
{"title":"Opera, devising and community: A creative and pedagogical methodology","authors":"G. Harries","doi":"10.1386/IJCM_00027_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/IJCM_00027_1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Create An Opera! was a fortnightly devising workshop led by the author at Theatre Delicatessen studios in London in 2017–20. It was free to the general public and attracted participants including both experienced and inexperienced performance practitioners. It aimed to create a safe, inclusive environment for experimentation in writing, composition and collaborative performance. This initiative arose from the author’s interest in challenging the sociopolitical traditions and hierarchical infrastructures associated with opera production. Inspired by the ethos of devised theatre, the workshops created a space for participants to be involved in both creative and performance aspects, working individually and collaboratively. This article presents the pedagogical and creative methodologies informing the delivery of the workshops, focusing on inclusion, collaboration and independent creativity.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86945584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of the current study was to describe the perceptions and experiences of New Horizons Band assistants in terms of learning, skill transfer and pedagogical preparation. The participant population for this study was 35 past student teacher-assistants from three New Horizons bands, one in Texas, one in Florida and one in Virginia. There were ten open-ended items on the questionnaire that asked about student assistant perceptions and experiences. Participants noted the growth they experienced from serving as a band teaching assistant in a New Horizons programme, describing their appreciation for lifelong learning, exposure to the complexity of how to teach to a variety of learners, and experience with the challenges of pacing with adults and blunt feedback from programme participants. The article concludes with a discussion of possible collegiate preparatory experiences that could broaden the teacher training experience for college programmes.
{"title":"A description of New Horizons Band assistants’ perceptions and experiences","authors":"Debbie Rohwer, Don D. Coffman, William M. Dabback","doi":"10.1386/IJCM_00024_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/IJCM_00024_1","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of the current study was to describe the perceptions and experiences of New Horizons Band assistants in terms of learning, skill transfer and pedagogical preparation. The participant population for this study was 35 past student teacher-assistants from three New Horizons bands, one in Texas, one in Florida and one in Virginia. There were ten open-ended items on the questionnaire that asked about student assistant perceptions and experiences. Participants noted the growth they experienced from serving as a band teaching assistant in a New Horizons programme, describing their appreciation for lifelong learning, exposure to the complexity of how to teach to a variety of learners, and experience with the challenges of pacing with adults and blunt feedback from programme participants. The article concludes with a discussion of possible collegiate preparatory experiences that could broaden the teacher training experience for college programmes.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"50 1","pages":"333-344"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77745168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The armed conflict in Colombia leaves many families with no other option than to be displaced, which affects their social status and identity. This article reprises a qualitative study that analyses the life histories of eight families, all of whom were victims of the armed conflict, whose children participate in the Batuta National Foundation’s ‘Music for Reconciliation’ programme. The results of the study indicate that displacement impacted identity, resulting in the unsettlement of the social place of the participants. This was due to their anonymous state on arrival at their new places, with no support networks or social recognition. Together with the distrust created by the violence experienced, this led to attitudes of isolation, through which the individual became increasingly vulnerable to the dynamics of violence. This text analyses the concept of temporary musical identity, and the results show the possibilities that collective musical spaces offer for restoring the social place of the participants.
{"title":"Temporary musical identity as a tool for rebuilding social place","authors":"Andrea Rodríguez-Sánchez, Alberto Cabedo-Mas","doi":"10.1386/IJCM_00029_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/IJCM_00029_1","url":null,"abstract":"The armed conflict in Colombia leaves many families with no other option than to be displaced, which affects their social status and identity. This article reprises a qualitative study that analyses the life histories of eight families, all of whom were victims of the armed conflict, whose children participate in the Batuta National Foundation’s ‘Music for Reconciliation’ programme. The results of the study indicate that displacement impacted identity, resulting in the unsettlement of the social place of the participants. This was due to their anonymous state on arrival at their new places, with no support networks or social recognition. Together with the distrust created by the violence experienced, this led to attitudes of isolation, through which the individual became increasingly vulnerable to the dynamics of violence. This text analyses the concept of temporary musical identity, and the results show the possibilities that collective musical spaces offer for restoring the social place of the participants.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"13 1","pages":"235-252"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81867486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In Shuilin Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan a group of older people have a small, well-established, active musical club called ‘Can’t Read the Words’ where they learn and play the ukulele together. This research explored the impact of their ukulele playing experiences and paid special attention to song preferences (songs they have chosen to play or sing). Data collection involved 11 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individual healthy adults. All participants drew from their experiences in regional community music organizations to explore how music effects their daily lives. Thematic analysis of the data unveiled valuable insights. The study concluded that participants believed that their musical club provided opportunities for individuals to practice and perform before audiences, resulting in a sense of achievement and satisfaction. The aged community should view the ‘Can’t Read the Words’ musical club as an example of the positive effects playing the ukulele can have on their lives.
{"title":"The ukulele experiences: Leisure and positive ageing in Taiwan","authors":"Angela Lee, Jane Southcott","doi":"10.1386/IJCM_00028_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/IJCM_00028_1","url":null,"abstract":"In Shuilin Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan a group of older people have a small, well-established, active musical club called ‘Can’t Read the Words’ where they learn and play the ukulele together. This research explored the impact of their ukulele playing experiences and paid special attention to song preferences (songs they have chosen to play or sing). Data collection involved 11 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individual healthy adults. All participants drew from their experiences in regional community music organizations to explore how music effects their daily lives. Thematic analysis of the data unveiled valuable insights. The study concluded that participants believed that their musical club provided opportunities for individuals to practice and perform before audiences, resulting in a sense of achievement and satisfaction. The aged community should view the ‘Can’t Read the Words’ musical club as an example of the positive effects playing the ukulele can have on their lives.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"24 1","pages":"319-331"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73676976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gary Ansdell, Brit Ågot Brøske, P. Black, Sara Lee
This article presents a broad discussion of power and influence within contemporary participatory music practices in relation to practices of intervention. The discussion is presented through the respective experience and professional perspectives of music therapy, music education and community music – each illustrated by current practice examples and their accompanying dilemmas; and covering both local and international projects. In a shared closing discussion, the four authors review the key question: whether professional influence and power in participatory music practices ‘shows the way’ or ‘gets in the way’. They conclude that intervention takes place on a continuum, in different ways, and to different degrees and levels. What is vital is to retain practical and ethical reflexivity on the dimensions of intervention as a practice that can offer both creative opportunities, but which can also be part of subtly oppressive power relationships.
{"title":"Showing the way, or getting in the way? Discussing power, influence and intervention in contemporary musical-social practices","authors":"Gary Ansdell, Brit Ågot Brøske, P. Black, Sara Lee","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00016_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00016_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents a broad discussion of power and influence within contemporary participatory music practices in relation to practices of intervention. The discussion is presented through the respective experience and professional perspectives of music therapy, music education and community music – each illustrated by current practice examples and their accompanying dilemmas; and covering both local and international projects. In a shared closing discussion, the four authors review the key question: whether professional influence and power in participatory music practices ‘shows the way’ or ‘gets in the way’. They conclude that intervention takes place on a continuum, in different ways, and to different degrees and levels. What is vital is to retain practical and ethical reflexivity on the dimensions of intervention as a practice that can offer both creative opportunities, but which can also be part of subtly oppressive power relationships.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73829330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"MUSOC: Music and Social Intervention Network excellence, inclusion and intervention in music: Navigating contexts and building sustainable working practices for musicians","authors":"J. Henley, L. Higgins","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00015_2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00015_2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"161 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76981733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Current conversations and debates amongst community music and music educational practitioners have engendered the need to identify and describe qualities and leadership strategies that could be expected essential for those in teaching, facilitating and/or working in diverse settings, including carceral environments. Common areas are first explored: where are we working (context)?, with whom are we working (people/community)? and given an understanding of the first two questions, how do we do it (strategies)? These framing questions assist in locating common characteristics of making music in various settings, but also point to the distinctive features of each of the three contexts. By establishing conditions for authentic experience, safety in exploring and risk-taking as well as defining key strategies for successful engagement, instructional approaches are identified and applied. Pedagogical practices that include instructional strategies such as guided discovery, collaborative learning and narrative dialogue are identified. Facilitation processes such as, for example, demonstrating/modelling, coaching, Socratic direction and facilitating/enabling are models of musical intervention that create space for acquiring and using lifelong skills in participatory contexts. Whether in schools, communities or prisons, the positive experience of music making thrives where the flexibility of the teacher/facilitator, the reflexivity of the innovator, the foundational knowledge that research and practice provide and the ultimate enhancement of the community are fully in place.
{"title":"Environment, intention and intergenerational music making: Facilitating participatory music making in diverse contexts of community music","authors":"K. Anderson, Lee Willingham","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00018_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00018_1","url":null,"abstract":"Current conversations and debates amongst community music and music educational practitioners have engendered the need to identify and describe qualities and leadership strategies that could be expected essential for those in teaching, facilitating and/or working in diverse settings, including carceral environments. Common areas are first explored: where are we working (context)?, with whom are we working (people/community)? and given an understanding of the first two questions, how do we do it (strategies)? These framing questions assist in locating common characteristics of making music in various settings, but also point to the distinctive features of each of the three contexts. By establishing conditions for authentic experience, safety in exploring and risk-taking as well as defining key strategies for successful engagement, instructional approaches are identified and applied. Pedagogical practices that include instructional strategies such as guided discovery, collaborative learning and narrative dialogue are identified. Facilitation processes such as, for example, demonstrating/modelling, coaching, Socratic direction and facilitating/enabling are models of musical intervention that create space for acquiring and using lifelong skills in participatory contexts. Whether in schools, communities or prisons, the positive experience of music making thrives where the flexibility of the teacher/facilitator, the reflexivity of the innovator, the foundational knowledge that research and practice provide and the ultimate enhancement of the community are fully in place.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"19 1","pages":"173-185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88685127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article, we present an overview and summary of the work undertaken by the Music and Social Intervention Network. Exploring the themes of ‘excellence’ and ‘inclusion’, we begin with a consideration of the four articles presented within this special issue and then proceed onto a reflection surrounding wider discussions prevalent at the public events held as part of the project. Following this, we outline five key discourses that emerged through the research process: value, context, measurement, process/product and pedagogy. These fields were then used to identify three underlying issues that affect the way the concepts of excellence and inclusion manifest. After proposing a common understanding of the terms under scrutiny, we suggest that the research points towards a reformation that reads: excellence is the process within community music and inclusion is the product of that process. Reflective questions pertaining to this idea are left open for further discussion.
{"title":"Redefining excellence and inclusion","authors":"J. Henley, L. Higgins","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00020_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00020_1","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we present an overview and summary of the work undertaken by the Music and Social Intervention Network. Exploring the themes of ‘excellence’ and ‘inclusion’, we begin with a consideration of the four articles presented within this special issue and then proceed onto a reflection surrounding wider discussions prevalent at the public events held as part of the project. Following this, we outline five key discourses that emerged through the research process: value, context, measurement, process/product and pedagogy. These fields were then used to identify three underlying issues that affect the way the concepts of excellence and inclusion manifest. After proposing a common understanding of the terms under scrutiny, we suggest that the research points towards a reformation that reads: excellence is the process within community music and inclusion is the product of that process. Reflective questions pertaining to this idea are left open for further discussion.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"180 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80184284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article sets out a dialogue on the impact of music on people and society. The perspectives of three researchers, from different experiential and methodological backgrounds, are presented. The article explores: how we define concepts of impact; how we seek to measure the impact of engaging with music, providing examples from our own recent work; and tensions in attempting to capture or measure the ‘magic’ of music, including how to meet the needs of different audiences and how to develop new ways to capture impact. The authors reflect on the political climate in which music interventions operate, including the need to ask different questions at different times for different audiences, concluding that it is vital to measure both whether there is any impact, how this impact was achieved, and people’s experiences of engaging with music. We found consensus about the need to move evidence forwards through both the use of arts-based creative methods that focus on the music-making process itself as well as through collaborations that bring together varied perspectives, experiences, disciplines and research methods. We also argue that – as there is considerable evidence about the impact of music, on different people, in different ways and in different settings – researchers should now aim to take stock of the evidence base. Finally, we posit that there is merit in engaging with a reflective dialogue like the one presented here, as a tool to help challenge, disrupt and influence our own thinking.
{"title":"Capturing the magic: A three-way dialogue on the impact of music on people and society","authors":"D. Camlin, L. Caulfield, R. Perkins","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00017_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00017_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article sets out a dialogue on the impact of music on people and society. The perspectives of three researchers, from different experiential and methodological backgrounds, are presented. The article explores: how we define concepts of impact; how we seek to measure the impact of engaging with music, providing examples from our own recent work; and tensions in attempting to capture or measure the ‘magic’ of music, including how to meet the needs of different audiences and how to develop new ways to capture impact. The authors reflect on the political climate in which music interventions operate, including the need to ask different questions at different times for different audiences, concluding that it is vital to measure both whether there is any impact, how this impact was achieved, and people’s experiences of engaging with music. We found consensus about the need to move evidence forwards through both the use of arts-based creative methods that focus on the music-making process itself as well as through collaborations that bring together varied perspectives, experiences, disciplines and research methods. We also argue that – as there is considerable evidence about the impact of music, on different people, in different ways and in different settings – researchers should now aim to take stock of the evidence base. Finally, we posit that there is merit in engaging with a reflective dialogue like the one presented here, as a tool to help challenge, disrupt and influence our own thinking.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89516646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is a rising critique of the process and position of decision-making across music interventions, which has been evidenced through the MUSOC research network debates that we, as doctoral students, have participated in. In this article, we specifically discuss ‘intervention’ as ‘deliberate strategies that seek to enable people to find self-expression through musical means’ (Bartleet and Higgins 2018: 3). We offer three perspectives from three different intervention contexts: community music in schools, organizational settings and music-making workshops. Through this article, we share and reflect on our experience with intervention and decision making within our practice. We give specific focus to: how intentions and motivations underpinning interventionist practice manifest in different contexts; how this is currently informed by the decision-making structures through which community music is practised in each context; and, the extent to which dominant modes of practice have potential to disempower participants, including how they are reinforced and re-enacted through this process. Finally, we suggest that how we talk about intervention across peers, and how we enact it through our practice as practitioners and researchers is possibly misaligned. This warrants further consideration if explorations of the term ‘intervention’ are to feed into discussion and action for responsible practice.
{"title":"Community music as intervention: Three doctoral researchers consider intervention from their different contexts","authors":"Ruth Currie, J. Gibson, C. Y. Lam","doi":"10.1386/ijcm_00019_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00019_1","url":null,"abstract":"There is a rising critique of the process and position of decision-making across music interventions, which has been evidenced through the MUSOC research network debates that we, as doctoral students, have participated in. In this article, we specifically discuss ‘intervention’ as ‘deliberate strategies that seek to enable people to find self-expression through musical means’ (Bartleet and Higgins 2018: 3). We offer three perspectives from three different intervention contexts: community music in schools, organizational settings and music-making workshops. Through this article, we share and reflect on our experience with intervention and decision making within our practice. We give specific focus to: how intentions and motivations underpinning interventionist practice manifest in different contexts; how this is currently informed by the decision-making structures through which community music is practised in each context; and, the extent to which dominant modes of practice have potential to disempower participants, including how they are reinforced and re-enacted through this process. Finally, we suggest that how we talk about intervention across peers, and how we enact it through our practice as practitioners and researchers is possibly misaligned. This warrants further consideration if explorations of the term ‘intervention’ are to feed into discussion and action for responsible practice.","PeriodicalId":43980,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Music","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90831653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}