Foregrounding migration in conservatoire teaching—action towards “global artistic citizenship”

Meyn, N. (2025) Foregrounding migration in conservatoire teaching—action towards “global artistic citizenship”. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 24 (5) pp. 60-83. ISSN 1545-4517

Abstract

In this article I discuss how a focus on migration and transnational mobility of composers and performers can help to overcome exclusionary methodological nationalism in higher music education and foster an increased awareness of artistic citizenship in a global rather than national arena. Reflecting on insights from participatory action research at the Royal College of Music in London that engaged with the theme of music and migration and encouraged student musicians to explore hybrid transnational identities in classical music, I explore the usefulness of a utopian concept of “global artistic citizenship” as a prototypal term. Attached to historical research about migrant musicians from Nazi Europe who found refuge in Britain during and after World War II, the research invited student musicians to perform repertoire by these previously marginalised composers and become part of a process of reflection about the wider implications of this action. The research took place during four consecutive performance projects involving student performers from diverse backgrounds over a period of three years. Reflections, notes and semi-structured interviews with participants of these projects prompted the wider theoretical discussion of the concept of artistic citizenship in this article. Engaging with Garcia-Cuesta’s suggestion of a more fluid concept of artistic citizenship and recent research about the concept of global citizenship, I develop the prototypal concept of ‘global artistic citizenship’ as a tool for critical reflection and activism within diverse learning communities in higher music education.

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