Musical Identities, Roles, Participation, and Inclusion at Dartington International Summer School
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Taking part and playing parts: Musical identities, roles, participation, and inclusion at Dartington International Summer School Hermione Ruck Keene Institute of Education, University College London Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy I, Hermione Katharine Mary Ruck Keene, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who participated in my research; the time, support and interest I have received from Dartington staff and participants at every stage of this project have been invaluable, and I hope to have done you all justice in my writing. I would particularly like to thank Andrew Ward for taking the time to read my thesis prior to submission. Equally importantly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Lucy Green. I am so lucky to have been one of the many doctoral students to have benefitted from her immeasurable wisdom, support and guidance, and am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to learn from her how to be the kind of academic that is needed in this troubled world. I would like also to thank my writing partners; Jon, Nicola, and Alex – thank you for your kindness, interest and willingness to collaborate in studying. Lorna and Hector – thank you for providing a beautiful space in which to work. My colleagues and students at the University of Exeter have been an invaluable source of support and endlessly patient in giving me time to complete this thesis; I would particularly like to thank my colleagues in the Primary PGCE team, Kerry Chappell for her understanding and tolerance, Lindsay Hetherington for helping me through the final weeks of writing, and Nigel Skinner for his gentle encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank the many people who have taken an interest in my doctoral work, in particular Chris, whose identification of ‘PhD gold’ was most helpful, Barney, who wanted to read extracts of my thesis in bed, which meant I knew he was the one for me, and my family, especially Zoe, Benjamin, John and Anna – you are the future, and I love you more than all the words in this thesis put together. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my father, Ben Ruck Keene, who used to call me the ‘great brain’, and throughout my life has given me the courage to do what I thought mattered, which is the greatest gift. Abstract Dartington International Summer School of Music (DISS) is an annual residential summer festival of predominantly classical musical learning and performance. Open since 1948 to amateurs, aspiring and established professionals, it represents an unusually diverse and multi-generational musical community. This study explores this Utopian vision of inclusive music-making through a qualitative ethnographic case study, utilizing unstructured interviews, observations, participant diaries and field notes. It addresses the following research foci: residents’ musical identities in relation to their musical background, expectations, and aspirations; playing roles at DISS; relationships with the act of making music and musical participation; and concepts of musical inclusion in the DISS context and beyond. Framed by conceptions of Utopia and the carnivalesque, and drawing on the sociology of work and leisure as well as theorisations of musical and dialogic identity, the study finds that DISS plays a significant role in the development and possible disruption of musical identity, allowing for creative risk-taking and the emergence of a ‘DISS identity’. Playing different musical roles – learner, teacher, performer, ensemble member, audience member - opens up the possibility of new, fluid, relationships with musical behaviours, as well as re-imagining and interrogating conceptions of musical talent. A ‘DISS pedagogy’ is discussed, which at its best draws on principles of dialogic teaching to include a diverse range of learners, whilst also presenting challenges in relation to teaching this mixed community. DISS is considered as a site for alternative performance practice in terms of audience-performer relationships, tutors as performers, and amateur-professional collaborations. Tensions between musical process and product, participation and ‘standards’ are revealed, as well as subtle hierarchies of socio-economic status and longevity of attendance. The potential of DISS as a site for musical inclusion is revealed to be richest in terms of inter-generational music-making possibilities. 1 Impact statement This findings of this research serve to illuminate an important and developing area of musical participation: collaboration between groups of musicians that are in some way ‘different’ to one another. This might apply in the context of amateur-professional music-making, tuition, or performances, in virtual and physical capacities. It might equally apply to inter-generational music-making in care homes or other settings. The insights gathered from researching a residential summer school shed light on the potential barriers to musical participation that might occur in such contexts. Aspiring professional musicians stand in particular to benefit from the research findings, since they are increasingly required to diverse and community settings. Furthermore, the analysis of teaching and learning at DISS gives valuable insight into adult and lifelong learning communities and relationships; the ‘DISS pedagogy’ identified would seem to be transferable to other musical – and non-musical – settings. Audience development is another area in which the findings of this study are of value; classical music in the 21st century is constantly looking for ways to re-invent itself and engage new audiences, and aspects of the fluid audience-performer-social relationships emerging from DISS could inform innovative future practice. The findings of this research have already been disseminated via presentations at several conferences, including the ISME World Conference and the Reflective Conservatoire Conference. Aspects have also been explored in a published chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Music and Leisure. Further dissemination within the academic community is intended with the publication of future journal articles investigating aspects of the research, and future presentations at academic conferences; I also intend to write a book based on this study. Building on existing professional links with those working with aspiring professional musicians, opportunities to work directly or indirectly with this user group will be explored. Similar opportunities with arts organisations and community music practitioners will also be investigated. Beyond the academic community, findings will be shared with the DISS community through a public interview and presentation of the research. 2 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 1 Impact statement .............................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1: Rationale and research context ...................................................................... 8 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 8 Rationale and research foci........................................................................................... 9 Research context ......................................................................................................... 13 Amateurs and professionals in classical music: defining the terms ....................... 13 The evolution of the amateur-professional relationship ........................................ 15 Dartington Hall: Utopia, social justice and the arts ................................................ 19 Overview of chapters .................................................................................................. 26 Chapter 2: Methodology, data collection and data analysis .......................................... 28 Research paradigm ...................................................................................................... 28 Discipline and theoretical framework ......................................................................... 29 Researcher positionality .............................................................................................. 33 Case study ................................................................................................................... 37 Ethics statement ......................................................................................................... 38 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 39 Fieldnotes ................................................................................................................ 41 Interviews ................................................................................................................ 42 Sampling .................................................................................................................. 43 Diaries ...................................................................................................................... 45 Observations ........................................................................................................... 46 Transcription ..........................................................................................................