South Asian music and music education in Britain

Abstract

Despite the apparent richness and diversity of South Asian music in Britain, it is perhaps surprising that it has yet received little attention in the literature of ethnomusicology or music education. Notable exceptions are Oliver on black music in (1990), Banerji and Baumann on bhangra (1988; 1990), and Baily on qawwali in Bradford and music in three British Muslim communities (1990; 1995). In the wake of South Asian music's rise in prominence in the British popular music scene of the last five years, recent ethnomusicological work has focused on specific British artists such as Sheila Chandra and Apache Indian and their place in the World Music industry (Taylor, 1997, pp. 147-173). In cultural studies, the focus has been on the social and political meaning of emerging South Asian dance and popular musics in the British context (Sharma, Hutnyk, & Sharma, 1996). Whilst, in music education, the main focus has been on translating the materials of South Asian music for use in schools (Farrell, 1986, 1990,1996). However, despite the value of such work in providing snapshots of the place South Asian music in Britain, there exists no single study that has attempted to draw a broader picture of the South Asian music community in Britain, nor any exploration of the complex connections between language, religion, regional background, demography and musical genres. Significantly, there is little discussion of music in general studies of South Asians in despite its importance as a form of cultural identity and a symbol of both continuity and change (exemplified by Modood et al., 1997). The Mapping South Asian Music in Britain project arose from an analysis of census figures on ethnic communities in Britain, first published in 1996 by the Office of Population Censuses & Surveys (OPCS). Earlier research on South Asian music teaching in London (Farrell, 1990b, 1994a) had revealed the diverse and changing nature of South Asian music in the capital city. The publication of new census data provided a framework for a nationwide survey. Amongst the project's main objectives was an investigation of the role of South Asian music in formal and informal music education in the UK. This paper presents an overview and synthesis of this project aim from a primarily qualitative point of view.

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