I'd like to Teach the World to Sing: Music and Conflict Transformation

Abstract

Music is commonsensically thought of as something that unites people, hence it is frequently deployed in multicultural contexts. However, little research has been done to see how this works over time. This article discusses new research from 2006 into a project that originally took place from 1989–1992. The original three year project aimed to improve relations between different ethnic groups through the use of music in schools in Norway. The project, which was documented at the time through annual reports and evaluations, consisted of performances of traditional folk and classical music by musicians from the home countries of different immigrant groups. This has been re-examined by interviewing the initial participants, 13 years after the project finished. Working from a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews of 23 people, primarily former pupils, took place in 2005–2006. The key focus was to learn how important the musical intervention had been in the participants' life-worlds, how they viewed it at the time and in retrospect and if it made any impact on their relations to pupils from other ethnic groups. The key finding indicates that although all participants remember the project and generally enjoyed it at the time, in particular the participatory events, it had little impact on their daily lives and their relations with other groups. The lack of impact seems to be due to the fact that the pupils did not see any connections between the musical performances or the musicians and the local population from these countries. This raises questions about the use of music to represent social groups, and how to effectively embed musical experiences into people's everyday cultures.