Adjusting the Pitch

An Ethnographic Exploration of Action Learning in an International Music Exchange Project

Authors

  • Deborah Parker Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy
  • Dario Gentili Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy
  • Henry Brown Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy
  • Alberto Balducci Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v21i2.3075

Keywords:

community music, psycho-social support, music therapy, refugees, social change, action learning, resilience, international cooperation

Abstract

The article traces the development of eight years of “Music and Resilience,” a project of international cooperation between a Palestinian NGO in Lebanon and an Italian CBO, with the aim of building music resources with, and for, the refugee communities of Lebanon.

Supported epistemologically by ethnography, sociology, psychology, and community music pedagogy, the paper narrates and analyzes the project's development as a multi-layered, organically orientated response to the specific geopolitical and social context, in which continuous monitoring and evaluation inform the necessary “adjustments” of the project's “pitch.” Using the paradigm of Action Learning within the framework of Theory of Social Change, the authors draw on the experience and research “Music and Resilience” has stimulated, to identify some “cardinal points” relevant to cross-cultural cooperation in general.

Author Biographies

Deborah Parker, Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy

Deborah Parker (MA music therapy), coordinator of the music therapy action, is a cellist and music therapist with extensive artistic, clinical, teaching and research experience, who has published in the field of music therapy and presented at conferences internationally. She is an associate of Prima Materia, active both professionally and as a volunteer; her participation in “Music and Resilience” is in this latter capacity. 

Dario Gentili, Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy

Dario Gentili (MA Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology), is coordinator of the Community Music action, with research experience about the Palestinian question in the OPT and Lebanon. He is an associate of Prima Materia, active both professionally and as a volunteer; his participation in “Music and Resilience” is in this latter capacity. 

Henry Brown, Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy

Henry Brown (D.Phil Music), the project’s musical director, is a composer, pianist and conductor, who has developed a vast repertoire of arranged music for instrumental groups. He is an associate of Prima Materia, active both professionally and as a volunteer; his participation in “Music and Resilience” is in this latter capacity. 

Alberto Balducci, Associazione Prima Materia, Montespertoli, Italy

Alberto Balducci is a music therapist, coordinator of the Psycho-social Support action. He is an associate of Prima Materia, active both professionally and as a volunteer; his participation in “Music and Resilience” is in this latter capacity. 

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Picture of the four authors Parker, Gentili, Brown and Balducci

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Published

2021-06-29

How to Cite

Parker, D., Gentili, D., Brown, H., & Balducci, A. (2021). Adjusting the Pitch: An Ethnographic Exploration of Action Learning in an International Music Exchange Project. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v21i2.3075

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Reflections on Practice

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Copyright (c) 2021 Deborah Parker, Dario Gentili, Henry Brown, Alberto Balducci

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