Cultural, social, economic, and symbolic capital are distributed highly unequally within society. In concert life, in particular, there are numerous barriers that make it difficult for marginalised groups to participate on an equal footing. In the spirit of cultural participation and social justice, projects in the field of Music for Social Change actively address this issue and seek to contribute to a more equitable society. This may, for example, take the form of new concert formats that take into account the specific needs of various dialogue groups and create access for a broader public or participatory formats, specifically engaging marginalised groups that have so far been underrepresented in musical life. It may also involve community projects in which facilitators and participants, professional and non-professional musicians, collaborate – often over an extended period of time.
In this context, it is particularly important to adopt a discrimination-aware and power-critical perspective on the music industry in general and the way classical concert halls and ensembles design and promote their artistic and music education programmes, in particular. Since studying music requires substantial (pre-)investments, actors in the (especially classical) music industry are often multiply privileged individuals who possess significant cultural, economic, social, and symbolic capital. Higher music education therefore plays a central role in enabling music students and emerging musicians to develop a reflective and socially responsible attitude in the sense of artistic citicenship.
Our workshop aims, first, to encourage participants to reflect on their own societal positioning and social location. Second, it invites them to shift perspectives and to reflect on the impact of social privilege and disadvantage on the possibilities of different marginalized groups to participate in the musical life in their respective communities. Finally, on a meta-level, our workshop seeks to demonstrate ways to raise awareness of music students concerning social inequalities and their own impact as mediators on cultural participation. In this context, we propose the deliberate cultivation of a reflective attitude in line with the concept of Reflective Practice developed by Donald A. Schön.
Workshop together with Prof. Axel Petri-Preis, PhD, at the ISME World Conference in Montréal (Canada), 26.–31.07.2026.