Bridging Scholarship and Practice in Community Music through Action Research

This paper explores the process of an on-going community music action research group, which I am facilitating as part of my PhD research. Called the “Munich Community Music Action Research Group”, the purpose of the group is to bridge community music practice, policy and research, part of a larger research project on developing community music in Munich, Germany. In Munich, western classical music is the most highly-funded high-art form, as reflected in the opera house and the rich variety of orchestras. However, music is also the least developed of the participatory arts in terms of engaging with the community. Those working as community musicians largely work in isolation and there is currently no network to bring them together. The City Council of Munich is currently developing cultural education in an exemplary citywide strategy. For decades, it has been one of the leading cities in Germany in terms of supporting cultural education. The council is also participating in the action research group, having recognized that there is a need to develop community music. This research aims to enable a group of eleven community musicians, policy makers and academics to co-construct a conceptual framework and develop perspectives for community music practice and policy in Munich. I share the process and findings of the group: the network that developed through the meetings; the space the group provided for discussion to develop theory and practice; synergies that developed for shared projects; and next steps in the development of the group itself