Artistic Citizenship & Social Arts Practices in the Conservatoire

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In this joint De-Centre and ResearchWorks event, we bring two of the De-Centre lines of enquiry together in conversation.

Jo Gibson, Sophie Hope and Jonathan Vaughan will share insights from their respective lines of enquiry into the shifting meanings, definitions and practices of Social Arts Practices and Artistic Citizenship in the context of the Conservatoire.

Driven by concerns over music education inequities anda commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability, Jonathan Vaughan is pursuing a PhD on Artistic Citizenship and Performance Excellence in Music Conservatoires. Jonathan’s research question is: How do conservatoires effectively train Artistic Citizens in order to create current and future generations of artists who are equipped and willing to intelligently engage with the current dialogue around ethics, social justice and well-being in order to define their own lives as 21st Century Artists in Society? Initially surveying 24 global institutions, his focus shifted to one selected institution, Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio. Through fieldwork and interviews, Jonathan aims to identify successful curriculum initiatives and challenges in fostering Artistic Citizenship, with preliminary findings highlighting effective strategies and obstacles observed at Oberlin.

Jo Gibson and Sophie Hope are currently creating a research project and podcast series titled Echoes and the unsaid: Listening into past experiments in social practice at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. They are holding group conversations with people involved in past teaching and research initiatives to generate a better understanding of why, what, how, when and where socially engaged practices have been taught, researched and supported historically at Guildhall School. By listening to the echoes of past practices at Guildhall School they hope to inform future directions and understandings of what innovative, socially engaged, de-centering pedagogies might look like for Guildhall School going forward.

Speakers:

Dr Jo Gibson is a community music practitioner-researcher from East London, Research Fellow at York St John University’s Institute for Social Justice, and supervises doctoral researchers at Guildhall School.

Dr Sophie Hope is a practice-based researcher and Lecturer in Social Engaged Practices at Guildhall School and co-leads the De-Centre for Socially Engaged Practice and Research.

Professor Jonathan Vaughan, Principal of Guildhall School since 2022 and former orchestral musician, leverages extensive experience from roles such as Director of Music at Guildhall, Chairman of the London Symphony Orchestra, and CEO/Artistic Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

What is ResearchWorks?

The Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks is a programme of events centred around the School’s research activity, bringing together staff, students and guests of international standing. We run regular events throughout the term intended to share the innovative research findings of the school and its guests with students, staff and the public.

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