A-level music, a qualification taken most often in English and Welsh school contexts around the age of 18, has been a long-standing feature of the musical training of many musicians. Historically bound up with Western European Art Music, the qualification has somewhat broadened its horizons in recent times, though with mixed success in opening up new ways of thinking about music. Recent research has highlighted the seemingly precarious nature of A-level music in many English schools. The reasons for this picture of decline are highly complex and difficult to disentangle, and are part of a much broader diminishing of creative subjects in the school curriculum. Decreasing numbers of A-level music entries run somewhat counter to popular policy discourse, which celebrates flagship announcements of £79 million given to Music Education Hubs in 2019–2020, and 2018 survey results that reported more than 700,000 children learning to play a musical instrument through music hub provision. However, behind these headlines, although there are many children having the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, few continue through to A-level and beyond. Despite its declining numbers, A-level music is recognised as a valuable qualification amongst music teachers, offering something distinct from graded music examinations and other Level 3 musical qualifications. This article presents the results of a recent nationwide survey of A-level music teachers to offer an insight into teacher perceptions of current A-level music specifications, the extent to which it prepares students for entry into higher musical education, and its appropriateness for aspiring young musicians.

Higher music education (HME) in Europe is multifaceted due to the great variety of legal frameworks, conservatory histories and practices. However, following the Bologna declaration in 1999, traditional conservatories are gradually transforming into research-based institutions, which means combining advanced performer training with artistic research. After a background on academisation in the higher education of classical, professional musicians, this article reports on a Swedish case study of meanings assigned to academisation in HME. Findings show that it is defined and justified as a quality development project, which requires adaptation and also gives opportunities for further development. Issues of agency in HME are discussed.

This pilot study analysed the learning strategies of advanced students and professional electroacoustic composers engaged in creating new musical pieces through online collaboration. The participants were divided into three groups and interacted in a virtual setting using synchronous (chat and Skype) and asynchronous tools (forum, compositional software) to perform the compositional activities. A multiple case study design was used to describe and interpret the actions of the participants. Forum discussions, Skype dialogues and e-mail exchanges were examined to explore the participants’ interactions and understand their actions during the online activities. Individual semi-structured interviews focusing on the processes and working approaches were conducted. The following themes were considered for the analysis of the collaborative compositional activity: working approach, relational model, leadership, organisation and compositional process. The participants effectively completed the compositional activities on the online platform, and based on the results, the following phases emerged as: (a) context definition; (b) planning/organising; (c) experimenting/generating musical ideas; (d) constructing and (e) evaluating. The findings are discussed regarding the educational implications of developing didactic activities based on collaborative composition.

Community Orientated and Opportunity Learning (COOL) Music was a 12-month collaborative project between researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University and practitioners at the Edinburgh-based social enterprise Heavy Sound. The project began in October 2017 and involved 16 sessions of participatory music making with 32 ‘hard-to-reach’ young people (aged 12–17) aimed at increasing confidence and self-esteem and improving social skills. Using COOL Music as a case study, this article explores some of the challenges faced by community-based arts organisations tasked with delivering such interventions, contrasting COOL Music’s small-scale, targeted, community-based approach with prevailing top-down music interventions in Scotland. We argue that such programmes are particularly suitable in engaging those at the margins of society, reaching them on their own terms through music that resonates with their own lived experience. However, we acknowledge the short-term and transitory nature of such projects may prove problematic for some hard-to-reach groups who require more stability in their lives and may also lead to staff fatigue and burnout. We call for further research in these areas, and greater policy attention to be paid to the sustainability of such projects.

This article outlines the development of an appropriate research approach, including methods from diverse disciplines, for researching the Colombian state-funded social music programme Music for Reconciliation (Música para la Reconciliación). After outlining the Colombian context and the literature, a pilot with ten participants is discussed. Findings show the contributions of sound postcards as part of life histories for capturing the experiences of displaced people in a country recovering from war. Their evocative capacity enriched the interviewees’ narrative, illustrating diverse sonorous landscapes throughout their lives that evidenced the changes generated by both the violence and programme participation. The conclusions offer suggestions for readers based in the arts, health, social sciences and beyond, interested in the uses of music and music education for other-than-musical purposes.

The benefits of lifelong musical participation have been repeatedly demonstrated through research and anecdote, and yet the challenging question of why more people are not engaged in these activities is rarely addressed. This project used interviews with eighteen current and past amateur ensemble members to explore themes of social acceptance, musical satisfaction and confidence, and to consider how personal determination and circumstances affect adults’ continuation of musical activities in the face of competing demands. By understanding how musical participation is viewed by those who no longer engage, or who have had long gaps in their engagement, the research aimed to reconsider the challenges of sustaining participation, and the perceived long-term effects of musical learning and experience. Conclusions are drawn about the role of music education in laying foundations for lifelong participation, and the benefits of providing all children with experience and understanding of making music.

This qualitative instrumental case study examines collaborative composing in the operabyyou.com online music community from the perspective of learning by utilising the concept of a ‘community of practice’ as a heuristic frame. The article suggests that although informal music practices offer important opportunities for people with varied backgrounds to participate in the production of art works, and may thus represent and illustrate important aspects of the community life of the society, they do not necessarily provide ideal models for the music classroom. Based on the analysis of the operabyyou.com community, we discuss conditions for collaborative composing when aiming to design educational settings that support the students' construction of identity and ownership of musical meaning.

For a practicing arts educator, the relationship between theory and practice is often unproblematic: theory is considered to be irrelevant for the good practice. Considering the matter from an academic standpoint, one faces the distinction between poietic, or productive, and contemplative, or responsive, mindsets stemming from the classical philosophical tradition. Still more confusing is the question of the relationship between theory and philosophy; one's theory seems to follow one's chosen philosophical commitment, even to a degree that advocates of different philosophical stances do not necessarily understand each others' conceptions of theory.

In this article,1 we examine the complex relationships between philosophy, theory and practice in music education. We shall begin with analysing different approaches to philosophy of music education. Proceeding towards more general conceptions of the relationship between theory and practice, we will examine the work of some of the well-known authors within the field of music education in order to pave way to a philosophical outlook that conceives the role of philosophy of music education as a form of cultural critique. The suggested alternative approach mediates between contemplative and poietic fields in pedagogical praxis. This guides us towards an understanding that considers theoretical concepts as philosophically loaded pragmatic tools that serve critical rationality embedded in practical action. From this standpoint there is indeed no need to cut theory apart from a good practice: both can be taken to serve the same master, philosophically informed way of living meaningfully.