Community Music

In Theory and In Practice

Lee Higgins

Develops a theoretical framework for community music
Brings together community music history, theory and case studies for the first time
Written by a practitioner and scholar of community music

Community Music

In Theory and In Practice

Lee Higgins

Description

Community musicians move in many diverse settings, and facilitate local music activities in a wide array of community contexts including schools, hospitals, places of worship, music festivals, and prisons. Underscoring the importance of active participation and sensitivity to context, they integrate activities such as listening, improvising, inventing and performing while emphasizing equality of opportunity and fostering a diverse and welcoming environment for all. In Community Music: In Theory and in Practice, author Lee Higgins, a recognized leader in the study and advocacy of community music, investigates an interventional approach toward active music making outside of formal teaching and learning situations. Situating community music within today's wider musical landscape, Higgins guides the reader through a historical perspective on the movement and an examination of its traits of practice, and concludes with a discussion of future implications and directions for this distinctive and increasingly significant music-making discipline. The first full-length work on the subject, Community Music: In Theory and In Practice is a must-read for anyone invested in music education, music therapy, applied ethnomusicology, or community cultural development, as well as the practitioners and participants of community music activities.

Community Music

In Theory and In Practice

Lee Higgins

Contents
1. Opening
Part One: Inheritances and Pathways
2. Community Arts & Community Cultural Development
3. The Growth of Community Music in the UK
4. The Peterborough Community Samba Band
5. International Perspectives
6. Illustrations of Practice
7. Crossfields
Part Two: Interventions and Counterpaths
8. Acts of Hospitality
9. Approaches to Practice
10. Face-to-Face Encounters
11. Cultural Democracy Revisited
12. Another Opening
Notes
References

Community Music

In Theory and In Practice

Lee Higgins

Author Information

Lee Higgins is Associate Professor of Music Education at the Boston University School of Music. He is the senior editor of the International Journal of Community Music and a past chair of the International Society for Music Education Commission on Community Music Activity.

Community Music

In Theory and In Practice

Lee Higgins

Reviews and Awards

"This book is certainly an event to celebrate!...Lee Higgins brings a rich background as community music practitioner and scholar to his work...Higgins's passion and vision, as well as meticulous scholarship, make him one of the leading advocates for Community Music today...Community Music in Theory and Practice is a very strong contribution to the field and a valuable resource." --International Journal of Community Music

"A dynamic musician and facilitator of musicking activity from the inside out, Lee Higgins articulates a theoretical framework from which he hangs manifold illustrations of the practice of Community Music. He deftly sews the seams of disciplinary fields together, and settles Community Music at the nexus of music education, music therapy, and applied ethnomusicology. He convincingly suggests, too, that the future of these very fields may be found amidst the powerful works of the boundary-walking community musicians." --Patricia Shehan Campbell, Donald E. Peterson Professor of Music, University of Washington, author of Songs in Their Heads (Oxford, 2010) and Teaching Music Globally (Oxford, 2004)

"What would it mean to envision music education as an act of hospitality? Lee Higgins's democratic framework, derived from the real-world practices of community musicians, is a call to all music educators to consider a new pedagogy of one-anotherness and good will. I endorse this important book, and I recommend it strongly. It is the first of its kind to treat community music with the theoretical heavyweight it deserves." --Randall Everett Allsup, Associate Professor of Music Education, Teachers College Columbia University

"Including photographs and notes, this is a complete research resource...Highly recommended." --Choice

"A challenging effort to understand the ideas of community music...[that] seeks to move beyond the familiar reading of the music workshop as utopian temporary community." --The Times Higher Education

"Whether you are studying community music, or otherwise engaged with community music, I'm sure that this is a book that will be of great interest. It is a dense and challenging read, and throws up many opportunities for further reading thatwill inspire the reader to reach beyond its scope and explore." --Sounding Board