Season 2 - IJCM Conversations is online!

In this conversation with Alicia de Bánffy-Hall, Dr. Kathleen Turner shares her journey into community music, highlighting the profound impact of her early experiences in choirs, particularly the Omagh Community Youth Choir in Northern Ireland. She discusses her academic exploration of autoethnography and narrative inquiry, emphasizing the importance of personal experience in research. Kathleen reflects on her PhD journey, the shift in her research focus towards the role of community musicians, and the significance of agency in community music. She also addresses the challenges and innovations in teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrating the resilience and creativity of community music practices.

Recap of the first season of our IJCM conversation series, have a listen!

In this special episode of the IJCM Conversation Series, hosts Alicia and Roger reflect on the highlights of Season One, sharing personal journeys into community music, current research projects, and memorable moments from their guests. They discuss the evolving terminology and impact of community music, challenges of working in multiple languages and how they feel now after completing season one and hearing their guests stories.

Community Music Netzwerk National Meeting

Last weekend, I hosted the first Community Music Netzwerk national meeting at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, with music workshops on tune learning, band work, sound painting, music in prisons and early years settings, and network development. Over 65 practitioners from across Germany and Switzerland connected, learned, made music, and shared meals together.
The CMN emerged out of my PhD research in Munich, and I have been chair since we founded it. Starting from a group of just eight people in Munich, we’ve now grown into a network of over 100 people, with many institutions supporting us—and we keep growing. Since 2012, we have worked on building this network: developing structures for organizing the network, making community music visible in Germany, connecting practitioners, working on quality, and developing practice in regional areas…
On Friday, we had our annual meeting, and I stepped down as chair. During the last week, I felt a mix of emotions. Some sadness and a sense of mourning as I let go of this role and at the same time, I know it is good for the network to be led by a new team—in the spirit of how it all began—with participatory action research and shared leadership at the core. I am now passing the baton to Matt Robinson and Marion Haak-Schulenburg, two exceptional community musicians I deeply trust.
I want to thank the amazing women I worked with—as a team, we led the network for the last few years: Marie Karaisl, Marion Haak-Schulenburg, and Swantje Ndiaye. Thank you also to Burkhard Hill and the Munich Community Music Action Research Group. Without them, we wouldn’t have started this in Munich all these years ago.

Exploring the relationships between music, health, and wellbeing in ISME groups - 09.05.2025

 

Deutscher Musikrat - Musik als Motor für gesellschaftlichen Wandel

Key Note University of Malta - Community Music in institutions: tensions and potentials

Thank you Dr. Jeremy Coleman and Prof. Dr. Philip Ciantar from the University of Malta for inviting me to do a key note on the amazing annual performing arts conference, this year themed "Participation, Creativity and Engagement in the Performing Arts". This was the 11th conference they have hosted, very impressive! It was especially inspiring to meet the other key note speaker Dr. Funmi Adewole Elliott, and learn from her very inspiring journey as a dancer and researcher in the UK and Nigeria. I spoke about Community Music in institutions: tensions and potentials, reflecting on the work of the Konzerthaus Dortmund and the City
library of Munich, and what it means when institutions include community music in their work. 

33. Fachtagung Musiktherapie

33. Fachtagung Musiktherapie - Vortrag über die Relevanz von Community Music für Well-Being und Gesundheitsvorsorge, Danke an Dr. Andreas Wölfl, Volker Bernius und das tolle Team vom FMZ!

Community Music Schulung für den Deutscher Musikrat Bonn

Community Music workshop with the German music council, I’m excited to see what will develop here…

Community Music Schulung für den Deutschen Musikrat in Bonn mit Mitarbeitenden aus Berlin und Bonn. Vielen Dank für die Einladung Antje Valentin ! Es war eine Freude mit dem Team vom Deutschen Musikrat zu arbeiten, ich bin sehr gespannt was hier entsteht!

musik:welt kulturelle Diversität in der musikalischen Bildung am Centre for World Music Hildesheim

Community Music Modul im Masterstudiengang musik:welt kulturelle Diversität in der musikalischen Bildung, am Centre for World Music Hildesheim. Ich liebe diesen Studiengang, das Team, und die beeindruckenden Studierenden aus der ganzen Welt, ich lerne jedes Mal so viel und komme inspiriert zurück. Ein Danke an Morena Piro die den Kurs so sorgsam und gut koordiniert, ich kann hier auch als Mutter sein was nicht oft möglich ist, diesmal mit meiner jüngsten Tochter im Gepäck.