<aside> ⚠️ Your Abstract is pending publication on the event platform.

• [ ] Please proof-read your abstract.

Changes can be made until 1 May 2023.

</aside>

<aside> ✔️ Presentation Formats

• Oral presentations should be 20 mins followed by 20 mins for questions.
• Performance presentations can be in the form of a lecture recital or performance with reflection, and should be 20 mins followed by 20 mins for questions.
• Pre-recorded Presentations: Oral or performance presentations can be pre-recorded and submitted as digital media. These should be a maximum of 25 mins**.** Prerecorded  presentations will be available to  view before the event and the full 40 mins of the session will be used for feedback and questions.

Pre-recorded presentations must be submitted by 31st May 2023.

</aside>

<aside> ℹ️ What to expect from this event:

• The course platform will go live on Notion on 2nd June. You will receive a link to access all course materials and information. Before the event you will be able to prepare by viewing digital presentations and find out more about other participants .
• Music4Change event is an international, interdisciplinary learning environment where music-focused researchers from a wide range of fields and methods come together to discuss their work and exchange knowledge. When preparing your presentation please consider how to communicate your project with people who may be outside your specific area of study and/or geographical location.
• We encourage active participation, discussion and dialogue during the event, accordingly we hope that contributors will attend the majority of the sessions across the three days. If you plan to only be present for your own presentation, please let us know in advance.
• If you wish to take 3 or 5 ECTS credit points for this event please make sure you register in advance. </aside>

Georgia Nicolaou PhD Candidate, Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, AP / University of Antwerp

Moving Towards Resilience: Joint Creation through Music and Movement for Local, Refugee and Immigrant Children

Keywords: music, movement, children, resilience, community music, inclusion

https://vimeo.com/840859853?share=copy

In an era of constant change and threats from political conflicts, viruses and climate change, children are among the most seriously impacted, due to their youthfulness and lack of social power (UNHCR, 2022). While many seek refuge in European countries hoping for a better future, their struggle often continues, facing difficulties at school, within peer community and their broader social circle. Music has proven to act as a powerful tool to stimulate empowerment, and social bonding (Kenny, 2016).

The starting point is the idea that the integration of joint music making and moving together, can help to build resilience (Nijs & Nicolaou, 2021). The focus lies on the role of bodily movement in music education for heterogenous groups of local, newly arrived immigrant and refugee children. During my PhD research I aim to investigate the potential of the participatory aspect in designing movement-based musical activities to promote resilience. What artistic and educational competences are needed to design empowering movement-based musical activities? What is the role of co-creation in a child-centered methodology?

I will present a part of the artistic-pedagogical framework that consists of workshops for children to engage in a creative process using music, movement, composition and improvisation (Marsh, 2017). These workshops aim to promote a safe space for the children to express their interests in music, welcome their musical memories and teach them to approach the multiplicity of sound and movement with an open mind. They include activities such as collective improvisation, body percussion, instant composing, graphic scores and movement-based activities supported by the Laban Bartenieff Movement System.

References

• Kenny, A. (2016). Communities of musical practice (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315572963
• Marsh, K. (2017). Creating bridges: music, play and well-being in the lives of refugee and immigrant children and young people. Music Education Research, 19(1), 60–73.
• Nijs, L., & Nicolaou, G. (2021). Flourishing in Resonance: Joint resilience building through music and motion. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 666702.
• Schiavio, A., van der Schyff, D., Gande, A., and Kruse-Weber, S. (2018). Negotiating individuality and collectivity in community music. A qualitative case study. Psychology of Music, 47(5), 706–721.
• UNHCR. (2022). Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2021. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Available online at: https://doi.org/www.unhcr.org/62a9d1494/global-trends-report-2021.

About Georgia

Georgia Nicolaou (1990) is a Cypriot composer, musician, researcher and educator based in the Netherlands. She is a PhD candidate at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and the University of Antwerp. Her research focuses on Community Music and Movement, Embodied Music Pedagogies and Collective Creativity for (vulnerable) children. She previously studied Composition (BMus & MMus) at Codarts Rotterdam, the Utrecht Conservatory and the Ionian University in Corfu, Greece. Besides, she is currently enrolled in the Certification Program of Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies at EMOVE Institute and she works as a music and movement teacher at the Belgian organization Musica Impulscentrum. Moreover, she is an acclaimed composer, pianist, and singer. Her works have been performed in prestigious music festivals, such as Operadagen Rotterdam, November Music, Transit and Gaudeamus among others.