Using Ezra Schabas’ (1966) report on Ontario community orchestras as a catalyst for inquiry, this dissertation examines the nature of amateur orchestras, arguing that they may be reconceptualised as unique, socio-musical communities of practice through an exploration of several factors which influence their health and sustainability. These include: aspects of amateur musical engagement; the relationship between amateur musicians and the various professional actors found in the amateur context; the importance of ensemble-based music education as a crucible for the development of individual artistry, life-long musical learning, and a socio-musical skill set which will encourage and enhance future orchestral participation; the adoption of new, creative and collaborative practices as pathways to improved socio-musical awareness and artistic freedom; and an approach to public engagement which celebrates diversity, embraces cultural democracy, and fosters community cohesion among players and the public. These concepts are explored against the backdrop of two contrasting paradigms of practice: the traditional symphony orchestra and Community Music. This comparison suggests a new paradigm for amateur orchestras, embodying the characteristics of amateurism, socio-musical cohesion, and community engagement, which can properly be described as “community orchestras.

When our society evolved into industrial era, people started to gather in cities. It caused some problems, such as lack of interaction with neighbors and awareness of community belonging. However, to construct a harmonious, merry, mutually supportive community, some people start to think about how to strengthen the sense of community and improve their living environment. One important element to awaken the sense of community is to increase the communication opportunities of community residents, so that they can develop the feeling of the ¡§community¡¨. Furthermore, to run a ¡§community association¡¨ is one of the ways not only to attract them to join in and to keep in touch with each others, but also to elevate the living quality of the community. In order to promote the culture of the community and to strengthen the sense of community among the habitants, the ¡§QingFeng Community Development Committee¡¨ formed the ¡§QingFeng Community Chinese Orchestra¡¨ in June 2005. The purposes of this study are to present the management problems of ¡§QingFeng Community Chinese Orchestra,¡¨ and to draw up a strategic plan and an operational model for the orchestra. The CORPS model proposed by Dr. Dah-Hsian Seetoo is applied in this case to analyze the problems the orchestra. The researcher, furthermore, suggest several short- and mid-long-term strategies in response to those problems. The result of this study shows that: the ¡§Clients¡¨ of a community's orchestra including of the community residents and its members. The administrator of an orchestra must give consideration to both sides; the ¡§Operations¡¨ are the key elements for an orchestra to run persistently. Having a good operational procedure can make the administrative work carry out smoothly; the ¡§Resources,¡¨ which including money, material, and manpower, are the important foundation to run a community orchestra, The administrator of an orchestra should seek for resources from both inside and outside the community; the ¡§Participants¡¨ is the most sensitive subject in a community orchestra. How the atmosphere of an orchestra is depended on the manager¡¦s working attitude and style; the ¡§Services¡¨ of a community orchestra should be set up along with the demands of the community residents and its member. An orchestra must offer different services to different people. In addition, a strategic planning is a top-down approach to reconstruct an organization. Only when the manager can proceed it with full agreement, the strategic planning can be successfully executed. There are only few researches regarding to community orchestras in Taiwan, which makes an administrator very difficult to run one. Therefore, the researchers in the relevant departments should carry on exploring towards this topic.

The purpose of this study was to increase knowledge about the experiences of adult amateur string players. Through narrative inquiry, this study presents the unique stories of two amateur string players who have sustained their active music-making throughout their adult lives. Leaders in music education have promised lifelong music-making and touted it as a benefit of supporting music in schools. This promise is part of vision statements, symposia, advocacy efforts, and guiding documents for the last century. Yet, the most common outcome for students who participate in school music programs is that they quit before they graduate high school, or soon afterward. The idea of school music segueing into lifetime music-making for large numbers of students remains an aspiration and not the outcome. I used narrative inquiry to explore and present the stories of these two players. Their experiences are unique, and it is not appropriate to generalize their narratives to others. However, I hope that by closely examining the experiences they considered impactful in their lives as music students and amateur musicians, music educators can better understand the ways their teaching practices might lead to students' enjoyment of music-making past their student years. Implications for practicing music teachers and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to identify and assess Texas community orchestras and create a demographic and musical profile of participants. This was accomplished through use of two online questionnaires. A director survey questionnaire determined the organizational status of each orchestra. The directors surveyed were leaders in these organizations who provided information about their orchestras’ founding, budget, and membership numbers. The participant survey questionnaire was adapted from Bowen’s 1995 study of community band participants in the southeastern United States. Participant data included educational and musical training, musical activities, and demographics. Bowen’s study guided this venture in expanding a profile of community musicians to include those in community orchestras. Eleven of the 18 community orchestras identified in Texas responded to the questionnaires distributed, with 361 participant questionnaires returned. Although many music making opportunities for adults are available in Texas, the existence of only 18 community orchestras in the state indicates a tremendous gap between school music making and adult music making in these types of ensembles, given 44,000 Texas school orchestras reported competing in 2010–2011. Research has shown that making music increases the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual wellbeing of those who take part. As serious leisure, community music making experiences enable those involved an opportunity to engage in a challenging, satisfying, and meaningful activity. All members of a community should have access to such opportunities because these activities may improve their quality of life. According to the profiles in the participant survey questionnaires, the following activities may encourage more participation in adult music making: Offering diverse music making opportunities, intergenerational music activities, encouraging community music experiences, and the modeling adult music making by teachers.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:38:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1670.pdf: 1121775 bytes, checksum: e939baa8bbea1ff89e869b5835063d98 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-18 / This work is the result of a research for Masters, which aims to highlighting and analyzing the educational processes present in a community orchestra from the practice of social coexistence of a group of musicians. The Experimental Orchestra of UFSCar (São Carlos Federal University), where the data collection happened is formed by amateur and professional musicians, from different communities, with different degrees of development and musical knowledge. The theoretical reference adopted is based on works of Paulo Freire, Ernani Fiori, Moacir Gadotti, Agnes Heller, Maria Waldenez Oliveira, as well as others related to Social Practice and Educational Processes fields. Concerning Musical Education, works of Viviane Beineke, Teca Brito, Vanda Freire, Marisa Fonterrada, Carlos Kater, Hans Koellreuter, were adopted among others. This study qualifies as qualitative research with participant observation and the data were collected by semi-structure interviews with five orchestra participants. From the analysis of the data it was possible to highlight some musical, human and social living processes which happen through living in diversity such as respect for differences, tolerance, friendship, solidarity and others / O presente trabalho é resultado de uma pesquisa de mestrado, que tem como objetivo destacar e analisar os processos educativos presentes em uma orquestra comunitária que se originam na prática social da convivência de um grupo de músicos. A Orquestra Experimental da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), onde a coleta de dados foi realizada, é formada por músicos amadores e profissionais advindos de diversas comunidades, com diferentes graus de desenvolvimento e conhecimento musical. O referencial teórico adotado é baseado nas obras de Paulo Freire, Ernani Fiori, Moacir Gadotti, Agnes Heller, Maria Waldenez Oliveira, entre outros específicos da linha de pesquisa de Práticas Sociais e Processos Educativos. Na área de Educação Musical foram adotadas obras de Viviane Beineke, Teça Brito, Vanda Freire, Marisa Fonterrada,Carlos Kater, Hans Koellreuter, entre outros. Esta é uma pesquisa qualitativa, com observação participante cujos dados foram coletados através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com cinco participantes da orquestra. A partir da análise dos dados foi possível destacar algumas aprendizagens musicais, humanas e sociais, como o respeito às diferenças, paciência com o outro, amizade, solidariedade, entre outras que se dão através da convivência na diversidade