Higgins gave different examples of projects which were realized in various countries: In Northern England, a group of students used waste products to craft instruments with interested participants to combine the ideas of making music and recycling. In this project, the aim was to increase the group’s awareness for sustainability while experiencing music. There are similar projects in all parts of the world, reaching from the slums of Brazil to conflict zones in Tel Aviv or involving refugees in Lebanon. All initiatives have the common goal of strengthening the feelings of community, reduce reservations and boost self-confidence. “The concept of community music has become an international phenomenon”, says Higgins.
He emphasized that it was important to be aware of the fact that community music offered an entirely different understanding of culture. During his time at school, he himself had experienced music and playing an instrument as an expression of elite structures. “I was completely kept out of it”, says Higgins, “they were just unable to value and appreciate my style of musical expression”. He found an approach to music thanks to his own garage band. In community music, it was about “giving the excluded a voice and a chance to be heard”. However, as Higgins emphasizes, this concept was not all “fluffy love, peace and rainbows” but required genuine sincere research, theory, training and practice to develop a substantiated form of community music – both with regard to social effects and musical quality. “Music is a fundamental human practice”, explains Higgins. He went on to say that community music paved the way for music to become an important companion for a human being throughout their entire life.
Professor Higgins heads the International Centre for Community Music, which has the mission of providing this form of music practice with a global forum for research, training and educational questions. Another member to the center is Alicia Banffy-Hall, lecturer for the KU Master’s degree program in Inclusive Music Education/Community Music. Furthermore, Higgins was president of the International Society for Music Education from 2016 to 2018. According to him, five years ago it would have been unthinkable for a representative from the area of community music to be elected president of such a society. But people started to think differently: In many countries around the globe, the idea of community music was meanwhile considered to be very important. Hosting the British music education specialist emphasized one of the KU’s degree program’s key objectives, namely bringing its students in close contact with international institutions in this field.
Information on the Master’s degree program in Inclusive Music Education/Community Music:
Being one of the first degree programs of its kind, the Master’s program seeks to combine the implementation of inclusion as a basic human right with the professionalization of music education specialists. The degree program can be studied full-time or part-time and is aimed at graduates of teaching programs and programs in education, as well as candidates with a background in music therapy, cultural mediation, social work, or special needs education. Applications for this year are welcome until June 1, 2019.
For more detailed information on the degree program, please visit www.musikpädagogik.info.
