‘This Is My Place’: Considering the potential of place-based community music for community well-being and sustainability

Abstract

Community music incorporating place-themed activities can be used in inclusive musical activities to build social bonds within specific locations. This assertion is explored by reporting on a Canadian place-themed community music capstone, and considering its potentialities in light of societal issues identified by the United Nations’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). Details are provided of the capstone’s design as a collaborative, co-led participatory concert-lecture on the role of community composers and relational composition. Participant perspectives are discussed through composer Pete Moser’s framework of a sense of place and in relation to well-being and potential applicability to various SDGs. Themes of ‘Affirmation and Celebration of Inclusive Community Music’, ‘Feelings of Safe Participation’, ‘Accomplishment through Relational Composition’ and ‘Community Music Philosophy Challenges’ indicate the joys and complexities of sustainable community music practice. Implications of benefits and challenges experienced in the capstone and future project possibilities are considered, alongside how place-themed approaches might further community education, environmental care and the creation of peaceful, inclusive societies.

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