Exploring Power in Music, Spirituality and Well-Being

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction (June Boyce-Tillman)
• Bibliography
• Part I Negotiating Power Between Different Cultures
• 1 Navigating Grief and Stepping Into our Collective Power at the Closure of a Prison Choir (Mary Cohen)
• Introduction
• Setting the Stage: The Prison Choir Begins and Builds Toward Becoming a Caring Community
• Different Songwriting Paths
• Community of Caring Blossoms and Grows
• COVID-19 Abruptly Halts the Choir’s Weekly Rehearsals
• Processing Grief: Self-Care and Next Steps
• Bibliography
• 2 The Day I Ceased to be a Trumpet Player: An Autoethnography of Musical Enculturation in a Postcolonial World (Koji Matsunobu)
• Introduction
• Framing the Inquiry
• Colonial History of Music in Japan
• Liberation: Postcolonial Inquiry
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• 3 You Know This Song, Too? A Duoethnography (Jordan L Cox and Maria A Ellis)
• The Church
• Maria
• Jordan
• The Music
• Maria
• Jordan
• The People
• Maria
• Jordan
• Themes of Intersection
• Bibliography
• 4 Beyond the Upper Room: A Visual Autoethnography of Chapels, Churches and Music (Susan Quindag)
• Prologue to the Upper Room
• Becoming Aware of Sacred Spaces and Music
• Autoethnography as Methodology
• Purpose of This Visual Autoethnography
• Ethics
• A Sacred Space Commemorating Sacrifice: The War Memorial Chapel
• Analysis of the War Memorial Chapel
• One More Thought
• A Sacred Space Within Creation: Pretty Place Chapel
• Analysis of Pretty Place Chapel
• One More Thought
• A Sacred Space of Modernity: Thomas Road Baptist Church
• Analysis of Thomas Road Baptist Church Online
• One More Thought
• A Sacred Space for the Body: Grace Baptist Fellowship
• Analysis of Grace Baptist Fellowship
• One More Thought
• Discussion of the Four Sacred Spaces
• Application of Relational Ontology
• Other Future Research
• Epilogue to the Upper Room
• Bibliography
• Part II Negotiating Power in Music Education
• 5 Seeing Myself as a Music Educator: Self-Repair, Non-Profit Work and Activism (Marissa Silverman)
• Methodology
• Setting I: Human Trafficking
• Interlude
• Setting II: Human Trafficking in the United States
• Setting III: Crossing Point Arts
• Setting IV: My Story
• Setting V: My Teaching and Learning
• Final Thoughts
• Bibliography
• 6 Playing With: An Autoethnography of Spiritual Defiance and Musical (Dis)Abilities (Amira Ehrlich)
• Invocation
• Reconsidering Vulnerability and (Self-)Value
• Musical and Academic Ableism
• (Dis)abilities and Theories of (Dis)ability
• Reframing Interactions With (Dis)ability Through Spirituality
• Evocative Autoethnography as a Method
• Reframing Music, Ability and the Self: Reflections on Autoethnography and Vulnerability
• Rethinking Talent, Inclusion and Accessibility
• Recommendations for Academic Institutions
• The Need for Policy Changes and Advocacy
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• 7 We Sing Because We Love: Towards a Pedagogical Philosophy of Singing and Spiritual Aliveness (Giuliana Frozoni and Katherine Zeserson)
• We Love Because We Sing
• And Away We Go
• I Would Like to Live Here
• Considering the Rules
• Co-Creating
• Pause 1
• Paulo Freire
• Pause 2
• Singing and Faith
• Pause 3
• A Poetic-Musical-Personal-Collective Journey
• Pause 4
• We Sing Because We Love
• Last Words That Ought to Be Famous
• Bibliography
• 8 Listening to Mirrors: A Trioethnography of Music Educators (Beatrice Bar, Tal Weiss and Yifat Shohat)
• Foreword
• Methodology
• Floating on Waves
• Three Stories
• Beatrice
• Tal
• Yifat
• Three Stories Meet
• Beatrice and Yifat
• Yifat and Tal
• Tal and Beatrice
• Waves of Helsinki
• The Pool
• The Ferry
• Waves of Power
• Pedagogy – Listening to Mirrors
• It Takes a Village to Raise a Music Teacher
• Waves and Mirrors – Afterword
• Bibliography
• 9 Weaving Trust and Connection in Multilingual Higher Music Education (Ewie Erasmus)
• The First Thread Unravels
• Unravelling and Re-Weaving Through Evocative Autoethnography
• Threads That I Thought Defined Me
• Carefully Unravelling the Threads to Embrace Vulnerability
• Intertwined Languages Bridge Worlds
• Navigating Threads of Power and Voice
• Values Knotted Through Threads of Light
• The Threads That Currently Define My Music Education Practice
• Threads Re-Woven, an Assemblage of Becoming
• Bibliography
• Part III Personal Growth and Empowerment
• 10 Navigating Between Trauma and Well-Being: A Dalcroze Teacher’s Quest for Integration (Bethan Habron-James)
• Preparing the Ground
• To Be a Pilgrim
• Wayfarer
• Autoethnography as a Spiritual Practice
• Setting Out
• Valley of Discovery
• Plains of Affect
• Canyon of Trauma
• Cliffs of Resilience
• Mountain of Acceptance
• Waterfall of Hospitality
• Ymlaen!
• Bibliography
• 11 Values-in-Action: Promoting Self-Actualised Teaching Through the Cultivation of Transcendent Character Strengths (Conroy Cupido)
• Literature Framework
• Motivation and Development in Learning
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligence in Education
• Vulnerability and Personal Growth
• Gratitude, Well-Being and Motivation
• Teacher Well-Being
• Self-Actualised Teaching
• The VIA-IS and Character Strengths
• Transcendent Character Strengths
• Fostering Self-Actualised Teaching Through Transcendence
• Research on Transcendence and Self-Actualisation in Education
• Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
• Gratitude as a Transcendent Strength in Teaching
• Hope and Optimism in Teaching
• Humour and Playfulness in Teaching
• Spirituality and Teaching
• Method
• Presentation of the Data
• Vignette One
• Vignette Two
• Vignette Three
• Vignette Four
• Leo
• Thando
• Luvo
• Sam
• Findings
• Theme 1: Self-Awareness and Authenticity in Teaching
• Vignette One
• Student Evaluation (Luvo)
• Theme 2: Empathy and Emotional Connection
• Vignette Two
• Student Evaluation (Sam)
• Student Evaluation (Thando)
• Theme 3: Transcendent Character Strengths: Gratitude, Hope, Beauty, and Spirituality
• Vignette Three
• Student Evaluation (Sam)
• Student Evaluation (Luvo)
• Theme 4: Holistic Approach to Student Development
• Vignette One
• Student Evaluation (Luvo)
• Student Evaluation (Thando)
• Theme 5: Creating a Supportive and Empathetic Environment
• Vignette Two
• Student Evaluation (Sam)
• Student Evaluation (Thando)
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• 12 Psychological Trauma, Resilience and Spiritual Peace: Exploring the Lived Experiences of a Professional Opera Singer During #MeToo and the COVID-19 Pandemic – An Autoethnography (Thomas Erlank)
• Background
• Procedures
• Ethical Considerations
• Theoretical Framework
• Psychological Trauma
• Resilience Theory
• Meaning and Purpose
• Spirituality and Well-Being
• Knowledge Gap
• Findings and Interpretations
• Psychological Trauma and Identity Disruption
• Recovery and Resilience: Creativity, Solitude, and Nature
• Spiritual Anchoring and Reclaimed Purpose
• Implications for Research and Practice
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Notes on Contributors
• Index

Figures

Figure 1.1: The spiritual experience in music (Boyce-Tillman, 2023)

Figure 2.1: The author playing the shakuhachi facing his family’s grave

Figure 4.1: Winchester Cathedral (Anglican), Winchester, England

Figure 4.2: Reredos (screen wall) in Winchester Cathedral illustrates high visual resonance

Figure 4.3: Benjamin West’s The Ascension of Our Lord (Jones, 1996; Meyer, 1975) in the front of the War Memorial Chapel

Figure 4.4: Facing the back of the War Memorial Chapel

Figure 4.5: Pretty Place Chapel, Cleveland, South Carolina

Figure 4.6: Pretty Place Chapel’s pillars, pews, ceiling, and back wall

Figure 4.7: Thomas Road Baptist Church online Sunday morning service (Thomas Road Baptist Church, 2024)

Figure 4.8: Thomas Road Baptist Church worship collective singing ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ with virtual stained-glass windows (Thomas Road Baptist Church, 2025)

Figure 4.9: Grace Baptist Fellowship, Greenville, South Carolina

Figure 4.10: Grace Baptist Fellowship’s Gothic arch-shaped corner door and window below the exposed ceiling

Figure 8.1: Las Meninas (1656), by Diego Velázquez

Figure 8.2: La Nuit étoilée sur le Rhône (1888), by Vincent van Gogh

Figure 11.1: A visual representation of how the themes relate to a self-actualised teaching approach

Acknowledgements

We dedicate this book to our mothers, who are creative, energetic, musical, steadfast, and selfless. Behind our stories are always the stories of our mothers. From them, we learned that true power resides in resilience, care, and creativity – qualities that resonate throughout the narratives in this volume. All the editors of this book – Prof Liesl van der Merwe, Rev Prof June Boyce-Tillman, Dr Petra Jerling, Dr Laetitia Orlandi, and Dr Debra Joubert – are mothers. We treasure our families and are deeply grateful for their support, which made it possible to bring this book to fruition. I am especially thankful to my co-editors for pulling together to lighten the load and for going above and beyond what is expected of editors.

We want to thank the authors who entrusted us with their stories – for their honesty, vulnerability, and courage in sharing their personal experiences. Your contributions offer profound insight into the complexities of power and will shed light on the lives of others.

We are equally indebted to the reviewers, who gave generously of their expertise and knowledge with care, sensitivity, and timeliness. Our heartfelt thanks go to David Allinson, Coenie Calitz, Athina Copteros, Jeremy Dittus, Thomas Erlank, Ewie Erasmus, Fiona Evison, Anne-Marie Forbes, Bethan Habron-James, Hussein Janmohamed, Vicky Koen, Joy Meyer, Albi Odendaal, André Oosthuizen, Stephen Roberts, Peter Smith, Gareth Dylan Smith, Marissa Silverman, Mignon van Vreden, Katherine Zeserson, and Sakhiseni Joseph Yende.

We are especially grateful to the series editor, Rev Prof June Boyce-Tillman. She is the archetype of the nurturing, caring mother – a wise crone sharing her strength, experience, and mature beauty with the world. We thank you for the opportunities you have created for us, and for your eloquent introduction, in which you masterfully wove together a coherent tapestry of stories.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the Faculty of Humanities at North-West University. Thank you to MASARA’s research director, Prof Chris van Rhyn, and to our deputy dean of research, Prof Mirna Nel, for your unwavering support.

Two angels in this project deserve special recognition: Prof Edwin Hees and Dr Debra Joubert. Prof Edwin undertook the language editing and asked tactful questions that sharpened the argumentation. Dr Debra Joubert, in addition to her role as co-editor, carefully checked and corrected all the references in every chapter. This copy-editing was a mammoth task, and we remain profoundly grateful.

We also extend our thanks to the steering committee and the scientific committee of the International Network for Music, Spirituality and Well-Being, who encouraged and supported us throughout this project.

Finally, we would like to warmly thank Anthony Mason at Peter Lang for his patience, kindness, and invaluable guidance. And to our readers, we are grateful for your interest in these stories and for accompanying us on this journey.

Liesl van der Merwe

Introduction

June Boyce-Tillman

This volume deals with the interface of human beings involved in musicking and power in various societies and various institutions that exercise power, such as education authorities:

Power is exercised through networks, and individuals do not simply circulate in those networks; they are in a position to both submit to and exercise this power. They are never the inert or consenting targets of power; they are always its relays. In other words, power passes through individuals. It is not applied to them. (Foucault, 2003, p. 29)

The chapters illustrate well some of the elements of power set out by Michel Foucault, who also described various ways of handling power among those subjugated by it. Two of these are strategies of survival and resistance (Boyce-Tillman, 2007a; Foucault, 1975/1979, p. 27). We see, as Foucault (2003) put it, how power works in various musicking worlds:

Relations of power are indissociable from a discourse of truth, and they can neither be established nor function unless a true discourse is produced, accumulated, put into circulation, and set to work. Power cannot be exercised unless a certain economy of discourses of truth functions in, on the basis of, and thanks to, that power. (p. 24)

Power can be categorised in many ways, including political, social, cultural and economic. The dynamics of power include power over, power with, power to and power within. Foucault’s theories explore the interconnectedness of power, knowledge and social control. In his view, power is dispersed, often conservative in nature and embedded in various structures and practices; it shapes self and cultural understandings, as seen in several chapters here.

This power operates within the internal world of the storytellers and outside of them because of the contexts within which they are working. The various chapters illustrate resisting and survival strategies operating in, around and outside of musicking. Some chapters describe the internal struggles within themselves and others the challenges of power in various contexts, such as the prison system. Some describe the interactions with people, particularly students, as a source of personal growth and change and a context for learning, where the interior self interfaces with the outside context.

It is in these contexts that many of the various strands of spirituality can be seen to operate. In Experiencing Music (Boyce-Tillman, 2016, pp. 75–76) I set out several strands in people’s concepts of spirituality – metaphysical (a sense of the beyond), narrative (codifying the metaphysical and situating it in a particular faith tradition), tradition, intrapersonal/expressive (within the person), interpersonal (relational), inter-Gaian (relationship with the natural world) and extrapersonal/ethical. These are overlapping concepts and function rather like a smorgasbord from which people take a variety of elements. Many of these strands can be found in these chapters, particularly the metaphysical, the intrapersonal, the interpersonal and the extrapersonal. There are some examples of the presence of a Christian narrative.

This volume shows how the interface between the dominant ways of knowing and the subjugated knowledges can generate new knowledges:

[W]hat I mean by power relations is that we are in a strategic situation towards each other … we are in this struggle, and the continuation of this situation can influence the behavior or nonbehavior of the other. So we are not trapped. We are always in this kind of situation. It means that we always have possibilities of changing the situation. We cannot jump outside the situation, and there is no point where you are free from all power relations. But you can always change it. So what I’ve said does not mean that we are always trapped, but that we are always free. Well anyway, that there is always the possibility of changing. (Foucault, 1982, p. 386)

Indeed, it would be possible to see this volume as an account of challenges to existing networks of power in musicking by means of spiritualities. The rationalist views in university/higher education programmes of musicking have led to the products of these programmes to concentrate on certain aspects of musicking and ignoring others.

The phenomenographic/crystalline model (Marton & Booth, 1997) that I have developed from numerous accounts of the musicking experience (Boyce-Tillman, 2007b, 2016, 2023) is illustrated in Figure 1.1 The fluidity of this model, with its interacting domains, interrogates the musical experience in greater detail. These domains are:

• Expression – the feelingful world
• Values – the context
• Construction – the organisation of the musical ideas
• Materials – the instruments, including the body

Based on Turner’s (1969/1974) concept of liminality, the spiritual experience is a sum of the interactions between the domains of the musical experience, which is born out in many of the chapters in this volume. The model shows how the narrowing of the teaching of music to the domain of construction in musicology and materials in instrumental teaching has marginalised the other domains and so limited the presence of the spiritual experience. The elegance of the debate and, indeed, what is regarded as an elegant, structured argument, has long concerned theoreticians of the Western classical tradition. It is on the domain of construction that curricula in musicology concentrate, in their pursuit of the beautiful. The domain is broken into durations, scales, tonalities, chords and forms such as ternary and sonata, and is approached by culturally specific works. The unequivocal acceptance of some music as great and other as more inferior depends on the deep establishment of these norms of beauty. The development of a canon of ‘great works’ in Western classical music depended on these supposedly ‘universal’ criteria for The Beautiful and these have long been the basis for Western music education. For it is through the processes of education that these norms are embedded deeply and sustained within a particular society. The dominating elders of Western classical music have controlled music education, with the result that construction issues are over-documented. The emphasis in musicology has been on the composers and theoreticians of the Western classical tradition rather than, for example, the master drummers of Yoruba traditions, with the result that oral musical cultures have been subjugated by the application of principles from the Western classical canon (Goehr, 1992). The concept of the beautiful became limited and confined.