Transmitting Musical Heritage

The Transmitting Musical Heritage research project addresses the central question of how meta-data relating to performance contexts and ideologies are transmitted along with sound through community music practices. Drawing on the work of Shelemay (2008) and Higgins (2012), the research team form a bridge between ethnomusicology and music sociology to explore these issues in a community context. Employing a process of collaborative ethnography, researchers from The University of Sheffield work with three community partners to develop, deliver and analyse this topic.

The research has developed in response to an identified need by existing community music groups working with various international forms of music heritage. The partners include Soundpost, an education group working with indigenous British musical traditions; Babel Songs, an organisation collecting songs from long-term residents of Sheffield with roots elsewhere for performance in a community choir setting; and Arts on the Run, a network including more temporary asylum seeking refugee musicians who seek performance and teaching opportunities. The research asks to whom musicians associated with these groups are transmitting materials, what extra musical elements they deem important to pass on, how they attempt to achieve this, and in what ways does this activity impact on communities? The research will impact on current thinking in community music delivery where items of music heritage are to be considered.

Music is a cultural product of society, a sonic reflection of ideologies and behaviours, a performative heritage. When musical sound is transferred from player to player, or player to audience, we question what of this cultural meta-data travels with it, and how. The research will interpret transmission as 'passing on' through either overtly educational contexts (workshops), performance based contexts (concerts) or situational based traditions (ceremonial musics). Much musical activity takes place as a part of 'everyday life', though with the development of charitable organisations and the intermittent provision of funding, the ways music is mediated within many cultures is changing. 'Community Music', typically executed through a workshop situation, has an explicitly social aim, to draw participants together and build community. This research draws on the fields of ethnomusicology, music sociology and studies of communities to investigate this duality of approach to community and music - as music made by communities and as community made through music.

It is anticipated that this research will have impact in both academic and community contexts. The project will create a body of knowledge that will enable researchers and community musicians to reflect on issues relating to the transmission of heritage through musical activity and the affects this has on and within communities. The project will benefit both the academics involved in undertaking the research, but also the wider research community, in the dissemination of the findings through the dedicated Community Web Resource, Journal Articles and Transmission Day in which academics and educators will be invited to participate in knowledge and skills workshops. The project will have impact in variety of academic disciplines, both in the U.K and further afield and is designed to serve as a test case or model for future research in this area.

The three community partners will be encouraged to develop small-scale projects which relate to the research themes within the parameters of the larger project. They will be given the autonomy to manage and deliver these projects, including the management of a budget and resources in consultation with the research team. This will provide participants with valuable, transferable experience which can be applied in other contexts and in various employment sectors. This will also build capacity within the groups and improve the potential for future, independent research activities. Each of the community partners have distinctly different members, audiences and musical influences. By bringing the groups together at the quarterly networking events they can share relevant knowledge and skills, in this way, they will learn from one another and share best practice.

Other Community Music Groups and Networks not directly involved at the research stage will also benefit. The Community Web Resource will present the research in an accessible way to other interested groups as well as a wider public, extending the impact of the research beyond the length of the project. Performances and events hosted by the community partners will engage local and regional communities. It is anticipated that these performances will highlight and celebrate the rich cultural diversity of Sheffield through music. It will encourage audiences as well as community participants to reflect on and engage with the multiplicity of cultures and varying modes of cultural expression across the city. The project seeks to expose how communities are formed through collaboration through music and how they learn about their own and other's cultural heritage through music. The universal appeal of music in all its forms encourages a wide level of participation and has the potential to engage and inspire a wide audience.