Perspectives on Musical Care Throughout the Life Course: Introducing the Musical Care International Network

Giorgos Tsiris - ORCID: 0000-0001-9421-412X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9421-412XIn this paper we report on the inaugural meetings of the Musical Care International Network held online in 2022. The term “musical care” is defined by Spiro and Sanfilippo (2022) as “the role of music—music listening as well as music-making—in supporting any aspect of people's developmental or health needs” (pp. 2–3). Musical care takes varied forms in different cultural contexts and involves people from different disciplines and areas of expertise. Therefore, the Musical Care International Network takes an interdisciplinary and international approach and aims to better reflect the disciplinary, geographic, and cultural diversity relevant to musical care. Forty-two delegates participated in 5 inaugural meetings over 2 days, representing 24 countries and numerous disciplines and areas of practice. Based on the meetings, the aims of this paper are to (1) better understand the diverse practices, applications, contexts, and impacts of musical care around the globe and (2) introduce the Musical Care International Network. Transcriptions of the recordings, alongside notes taken by the hosts, were used to summarise the conversations. The discussions developed ideas in three areas: (a) musical care as context-dependent and social, (b) musical care's position within the broader research and practice context, and (c) debates about the impact of and evidence for musical care. We can conclude that musical care refers to context-dependent and social phenomena. The term musical care was seen as useful in talking across boundaries while not minimizing individual disciplinary and professional expertise. The use of the term was seen to help balance the importance and place of multiple disciplines, with a role to play in the development of a collective identity. This collective identity was seen as important in advocacy and in helping to shape policy. The paper closes with proposed future directions for the network and its emerging mission statement.https://doi.org/10.1177/205920432312005536aheadofprintaheadofprin

Costruire la comunità attraverso l’inclusività del fare musica

Ziel dieses Projektes war es, die Grenzen der regulären Musiktherapie-Sitzungen in einer gemeinnützigen Organisation zu erweitern, um Auftritte und Workshops mit Community-Musikern zu integrieren. Die Ziele und Praktiken, die für Personen mit körperlichen Behinderungen eingesetzt wurden, nutzten die Teilnehmer, um von der gleichzeitigen Musikproduktion mit lokalen Community-Musikern zu profitieren. Diese hatten keine Musiktherapie-Erfahrung, ihre Spielstile waren jedoch eng mit den musikalischen Vorlieben unserer Teilnehmer verknüpft. Die vier kollaborativen Workshops, die über sechs Monate stattfanden, umfassten Musiktherapie-Teilnehmer, akkreditierte Musiktherapeuten, lokale Musiker und Freiwillige, alle engagierten sich im gemeinsamen Musik machen und das Unterrichten und Lernen wurde von allen Beteiligten geteilt. Die Workshops waren auch ein wichtiger Mechanismus für die Sensibilisierung für die Bedürfnisse und Fähigkeiten der Musiktherapie-Teilnehmer.このプロジェクトの目的は、NPOにおける通常の音楽療法セッションが持つ境界線を、コミュニティの音楽家とのパフォーマンスやワークショップを含めるものへと拡げることであった。身体的障害を持つ参加者たちへの目標と実践は、地域コミュニティの音楽家たちとの包摂的な音楽活動によって利益を得るためのものであった。その音楽家たちとは、これまで音楽療法の経験はないが、その演奏スタイルが参加者たちの音楽的嗜好と似通っている人たちである。6か月にわたって行われた四つの協同ワークショップは、音楽療法参加者、有資格音楽療法士、地域の音楽家、ボランティアが一緒に音楽活動に取り組み、その全員が、教えることや学ぶことを分かち合った。ワークショップはまた、音楽療法参加者のニーズや能力への気づきをおおいに高める重要な仕組みともなった。The objective of this project was to expand the boundaries of regular music therapy sessions at a non-profit organization to include performances and workshops with community musicians. The goals and practices used for persons with physical disabilities prepared participants to benefit from inclusive music-making with local community musicians who had no previous music therapy experience, but whose performing styles were closely aligned with the musical preferences of our participants. The four collaborative workshops, which were held over six months, involved music therapy participants, accredited music therapists, local musicians, and volunteers engaging in music making together where teaching and learning was shared amongst all involved. The workshops were also an important mechanism for raising greater awareness of the needs and abilities of the music therapy participants.L’obiettivo di questo progetto è stato quello di ampliare i confini delle regolari sessioni di musicoterapia a un’organizzazione no-profit, per includere performances e workshops con i musicisti della comunità. Gli obiettivi e le pratiche utilizzate per persone con disabilità fisiche, hanno preparato i partecipanti a beneficiare dell’inclusività del fare musica con i musicisti delle comunità locali, i quali non avevano precedenti esperienze di musicoterapia, ma i cui stili di esecuzione erano strettamente allineati con le preferenze musicali degli stessi partecipanti. I quattro workshops di collaborazione svolti nel corso di sei mesi, hanno coinvolto partecipanti, musicoterapisti accreditati, musicisti locali e volontari impegnati nel fare musica insieme, laddove l'insegnamento e l'apprendimento sono stati condivisi fra tutti i soggetti. I workshops sono stati anche un importante meccanismo per sollevare una maggior consapevolezza dei bisogni e delle capacità dei partecipanti in musicoterapia.L'objectif de ce projet était d'élargir les limites des sessions régulières de musicothérapie dans un organisme à but non lucratif pour inclure des spectacles et des ateliers avec des musiciens communautaires. Les buts et les pratiques utilisés pour les personnes ayant un handicap physique ont préparé les participants à bénéficier de musiques inclusives avec des musiciens de la communauté locale qui n'avaient pas d'expérience de musicothérapie précédente, mais dont les styles de performance étaient étroitement alignés sur les préférences musicales de nos participants. Les quatre ateliers collaboratifs, qui ont duré plus de six mois, ont impliqué des participants de musicothérapie, des musicothérapeutes accrédités, des musiciens locaux et des bénévoles s'engageant dans la fabrication de musique où l'enseignement et l'apprentissage étaient partagés entre tous les participants. Les ateliers ont également été un mécanisme important pour sensibiliser d’avantage les participants aux besoins et aux habiletés des musicothérapeutes