Search results

During choir rehearsals, a conductor continuously holds choir members accountable for what they do and how they sing. Hence, members are held accountable through action. This allows a conductor to emphasize his/her expertise and underline his/her authority. Choir members typically respond in certain ways when this is done, for instance by commenting on the feedback they receive or by trying to improve their singing. The interplay between these accounts, how they develop over time, and what they (do not) accomplish in terms of human relatedness are the focus of this study. We use Bauman's (1993) conceptualization of social space to investigate these issues.

By providing reasons for their conduct and behaving in a certain way, a conductor and choir members, but also a choir's management, can alter their position in social space. Thereby, they solidify or change how they relate to other individuals in the choir. Bauman assumes that processes of social spacing require so-called “misunderstandings”. We examine seven misunderstandings that occurred in a particular rehearsal of a top-level amateur choir, analyzing their impact on human relatedness. Video analysis methods, interviews and photo-elicitation are the main research methods used.

We find both short-term and long-term effects of misunderstandings on human relatedness, and offer two extensions of Bauman's (1993) conception of social space. Firstly, we assert that there is a reflective side to processes of social spacing that needs to be taken into account when changes in human relatedness are discussed. Secondly, we find that the emotional impact of accountability on how individuals behave ought not to be underestimated, as this can have lasting effects on how people relate to one another.

This research makes two contributions to the extant literature. It is shown how accountability through action unfolds when people engage in leisurely activity, and how this affects the way they relate to one another – in sometimes unintentional and unpredictable ways. It also extends a well-known theoretical framework on social space that has seen little application in the accounting literature. This framework is adapted so that it may be used more fruitfully in future accounting studies.

This article aims to explore informal entrepreneurial activities in ethno-cultural clusters in the Russian South. It evaluates the agglomeration economy efforts of ethno-cultural communities and the formation of a new operations of the informal sector. The transition of the ethnic project “Obukhovsky Choir” from an informal to a formal enterprise is considered as unfinished. The emphasis is pointed at the barriers affecting the process and extra-economic factors influencing entrepreneurship activities in ethno-cultural clusters in Russia.

For investigation of the informal entrepreneurship in the Southern Russian agglomeration, in-depth interviews method has been used. The paper researched concept of entrepreneurship and cultural entrepreneurship through the interviews, trying to distinguish the core factors influencing activities of Obukhovsky Choir. These questions concern motivation to enter entrepreneurship activity, regional and local policies affecting the overall situation, core values (ideology) of these types of activity, the role of institutional and other contexts, spatial distribution and social capital influence.

The case of the Rostov agglomeration demonstrates the delayed development of ethno-cultural clusters and attempts to closure activities of communities into local political space. Rostov agglomeration has not stepped through the threshold and involved ethno-cultural communities in the formation of the “common good” conception. While Rostov agglomeration is still attractive for labour migration and migrants' entrepreneurial initiatives, local government does not support such intervention into the stable regional market. These steps delay the development of ethno-cultural clusters and contradict communication between ethnic communities, autochthonic population and local administration.

The case chosen for analysis is Cossack music entrepreneurial space as a salient sample of ethno-cultural cluster with powerful economic potential. It could be used for further consideration of ethno-cultural cluster as a source for socio-economic modernization of Russian multicultural agglomeration where established ethnic communities' communicative style strategically provides support or opposition to the local administration initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to explore their experiences as singers in a community choir called Arrkula (a Yanyuwa word meaning “one voice”) based in the School of Education at the University of Queensland as performance of song, self, social justice and seeing beyond boundaries. Performing at “gigs” inside and outside the university, Arrkula has been singing together since 2011, and despite an environment replete with neo-liberal ideals of individualism, competitiveness and capitalist driven research agendas, at the centre of their song remains a yearning for social connection, equality and renewed consciousness.

The authors take an autoethnographic creative approach and bring performance of song together with their stories and interviews with choir members to link the “secret space” of the rehearsal with the “public space” of staged performances.

The authors’ aim is to think and perform the potential the voice and voices of Arrkula hold in terms of heightening senses of agency, provoking and empowering a pursuit of freedom and transforming lived worlds through song.

The value of this paper is the authors’ take up of Maxine Greene’s (2005, p. 38) question, “if we can link imagination to our sense of possibility and our ability to respond to other human beings, can we link it to the making of community as well?” to consider what singing for democracy and difference might mean individually and collectively in the current climate of higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the benefits and issues relating to arts participation in later life.

The paper draws on literature relating to older people's arts participation, and also includes discussion of the author's doctoral research into arts and ageing. The research was a qualitative study, influenced by narrative approaches and life-course perspectives. It involved interviews with 24 participants who have connections with a case-study town in the English Midlands.

The paper focuses on the findings from six participants belonging to a male voice choir. The themes that are discussed include the importance of continuity; issues of identity; mutual support; impact of ill health and the sustainability of group activities.

This is a small-scale study, based in one case study town. Care should therefore be taken in generalising to different populations and areas. Potential for future research includes: other geographical locations, including larger urban areas. Specific focus on choir participation, or other art form. Involving people from a wider range of ethnic backgrounds.

This study adds to a growing body of evidence about the value of arts and culture to society.

This study is original in adopting life-course perspectives to understand later life arts participation. It also offers original insights into the nature of arts-generated social capital and how this may be viewed within a wider context of resourceful ageing.

It is no surprise that artists rely closely on their senses to create, develop, and perform their art. Musicians rely on what they hear, dancers rely on their proprioceptive sense and sense of movement, and painters rely on their vision. They rely on these senses to make decisions during creation and performance. At the same time their art can be seen as an exploration of what humans can experience through the senses. Developing the capacity to sense is an integral part of art education that is valued as highly as learning technical skills, such as the musician’s mastery of the instrument, the dancer’s mastery of the body, and the painter’s mastery of color and brush techniques.

In management education, things are different. Relevant techniques are taught, but no special attention is given to developing the ability to sense. There is an implied assumption that managers already know how to do this. However, on a two-day MBA course, it became clear that not only is this assumption wrong, but moreover the traditional pedagogical formats used seem to actively limit the participants ability to sense. The result is leaders who know techniques for enacting leadership, but due to their underdeveloped ability to sense, are unable to apply these techniques appropriately in practical settings.

A growing literature is now claiming that participation in the arts, and music in particular, is beneficial to health. Whilst some claims are made for music benefiting physiological health, the main benefit would seem to be for gains in emotional wellbeing. There is a gender dimension to participation in music, with girls being more likely to participate, and boys who wish to sing or play certain instruments facing the disapproval of a “macho” peer culture. The paper reports on qualitative research carried out into the views of 18 boy singers in a well‐known church choir in England, using observation, diary keeping, individual and group interviews. The boys showed a deep appreciation of and engagement with the music. They exhibited many features of high personal wellbeing, including the social competence to circumscribe the proscriptions of “macho” culture. Those from state schools were very critical of the superficial way singing was tackled in their schools. Secondary schools were reported as being more accepting of their singing than primary schools. All the boys were academic high achievers and were particularly keen on autonomous reading, again being critical of the guided reading offered by their schools. The paper concludes that state schools could do more to involve young people, including boys, in singing, and to take the subject more seriously, but acknowledges that the pressures on state schools to deliver literacy and numeracy are making this difficult.