Community Music ─ In Theory and in Practice

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.

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.