From the individual to the community

Music’s ability to bring people together and create a positive ripple effect gives it a unique part to play in building inclusive, prosperous communities. This has been exemplified by a collaboration between Leeds Beckett University’s School of Arts and Musicians without Borders.

A community initiative founded in the Netherlands, Musicians without Borders pioneers societal change through the power of music, working with communities and individuals affected by war, conflict and displacement around the world.

A key activity strand for Musicians without Borders is training facilitators, educating these facilitators as to how they can build trust, create communities and provide those suffering with trauma with a safe space to regulate their emotions through music.

Dr Tenley Martin from Leeds School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University has a long-standing relationship with Musicians without Borders through her background as a percussionist. She undertook training with the organisation after identifying an opportunity during the pandemic to bring this work and ethos to a local audience.

The collaboration began with a songwriting workshop for a group of interfaith women and a project with a local choir of asylum seekers and refugees, which led to the launch of a Leeds-based training programme, titled Cohesive Harmonies.

This signaled the first time that Musicians without Borders had brought their teachings outside of the Netherlands, and was focused on how musical interventions could build social cohesion and networks, including for people experiencing displacement.

To make the training programme as inclusive as possible, bursary places were offered to those experiencing displacement, as well as current students at Leeds Beckett University, who may otherwise struggle to self-fund the course. A focus was also placed on trauma informed practice, and using non-verbal communication to reduce barriers to participation.

Around 45 people have already benefitted from the training, before returning to their own communities to share these teachings.

This ripple effect can be seen across the UK, with Leeds School of Arts now working with communities practitioners around the country. These practitioners are helping to deliver national impact from this local project, as well as demonstrating how music can play a role in social cohesion, community development and wellbeing across diverse settings and backgrounds.