Theme issue on music and arts in conflict transformationThis is the first in an
annual series of themed issues published by MAiA, and focuses on the role of the arts
and music in conflict transformation and peace buildin

MAiA Editorial Team

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Music and Arts in Action | Volume 2 | Issue 2EditorialWelcome to the fourth issue of  Music and Arts in Action (MAiA). This is the first in an annual series of  themed issues published by MAiA, and focuses on the role of  the arts and  music  in  conflict  transformation  and  peace  building.  We  are  delighted  to  have received manuscripts on a wide range of  topics that highlight different aspects of  this  theme and  together  make  a  robust  contribution to  empirical  work  in  this  emerging research area. The issue begins with a guest editorial by MAiA editor Arild Bergh and John Sloboda,  Emeritus  Professor  at  Keele  University  and  psychologist  of  music.  This  thematic  editorial provides an overarching review of  the emergence of  music in particular and art  more generally  within the field  of  conflict  transformation and peace building.  Some notes from Bergh’s recent work are also used to contextualise the valuable contributions made by the individual papers in this issue. In these papers a variety of  issues in conflict  transformation and peace building are examined using novel case studies. These range from power, politics and identity issues in an Israeli-Arabic orchestra by Solveig Riiser;  the role of  sing-alongs in sustaining anti-war movements in the U.S. by Jeneve Brooks; cultural identity theory as unpacked in action research in Craig Robertson's ethnographic study  of  a  Bosnian  multi-ethnic  choir;  the  bureaucratic  constraints  on  evaluating community theatre interventions in Northern Ireland by Matthew Jennings and Andrea Baldwin;  and  the  combination  of  academic  and  practitioner  intervention  in  conflict transformation work by Svanibor Pettan's look at applied ethnomusicology.We are also looking forward to the next three issues of  MAiA, which will  showcase  exciting research on an array  of  topics.  First,  the fall/winter  2010 general  issue will  feature contributions examining applied drama, urban dance, female rock musicians, and opera production; forthcoming articles will be listed on the “Forthcoming” section of the MAiA website. Second, the next 2011 themed issue will examine music and the arts  in health promotion and wellness; the call for papers for this issue remains open on the MAiA website. Finally, we are preparing our first “special issue,” which will be published as an addition to our regular general and themed biannual issues. This peer-reviewed issue will document a recent seminar at the University of  Exeter on improvisation in the arts,  and  include  contributions  ranging  from Nubian  poetry  to  Japanese  community music therapy. THE EDITORIAL TEAM, MUSIC AND ARTS IN ACTIONACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe are very grateful to University of Illinois Press for the permission to publish a shortened  version of Svanibor Pettan's paper Applied Ethnomusicology: Bridging research and action. A longer version of this article is published in the forthcoming book Music and Conflict (eds. John Morgan O'Connell and Salwa el Shawan Castelo Branco, University of Illinois Press). Music and Arts in Action would not be possible without the generous help and support of a  number of individuals. The most invisible, yet most important, of these are the reviewers, to whom we are extremely grateful. The authors, editors, and readers of MAiA have all benefited  enormously from your ideas, suggestions, and thoughtful comments. We are also indebted to MAiA’s diligent copy editors and proofreaders. Finally, we would like to thank the authors in  this issue for their hard work and creativity in producing exciting papers for us all to share.© Music and Arts in Action 2010 | ISSN: 1754-7105 | Page 1http://musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/article/view/editorial4

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