Music Belongs to Everyone: Moments of Progress in Community Music Therapy with Musicians with Severe Disabilities

Abstract

The article describes novel and successful projects involving musicians with severe disabilities and adolescent music students. The Nádizumzuzum Orchestra consists of adult members of a nursing home. They are able to play music with a newly developed method called Consonate. The young musicians are students of the Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School. This article presents the historical and socio-political background of the project to illustrate how music therapy grows from particular cultural and political circumstances of Hungary, and therefore takes a particular Hungarian form and flavour. The article also reflects on the wider context of the international research and practice of Community Music Therapy.