The Process of Preparing and Performing Choral Music for Social Justice in Three University Choirs

• In Event: Critical Approaches to Music Education

Abstract

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to discover the process of preparing and performing choral music for social justice within three different university choirs. University choral programs that planned to perform three different extended choral works in Spring 2024 were selected through maximum variation. Over four months of data collection and analysis including 95 individual interviews with 53 singer participants and six individual interviews with three conductor participants, findings suggest a complex experience grounded in personal identity, and choral and institutional context. Analysis continues, however, a core category of awareness and meaning-making is emerging which may foster connectedness with others in the choir and provide an opening to discuss social justice with those outside of the ensemble.

Authors

• Elizabeth Cassidy Parker, Temple University

• Dustin S. Cates, Temple University

• George Preston Wilson, Rider University