‘This circle of joy’: meaningful musicians’ work and the benefits of facilitating singing groups

Abstract

The complex realities of musicians' portfolio careers highlight the need for research on musicians' wellbeing. Musicians may include community work within their portfolio such as the facilitation of singing groups for health and wellbeing. Until recently, research on these groups has focused primarily on health and wellbeing outcomes for group participants with little discussion of these factors for the facilitators as professional musicians. We recruited eleven facilitators for semi-structured interviews to investigate their work experiences.Informed by positive psychology and the PERMA model for wellbeing, reflexive thematic analysis of interview data produced themes indicating positive wellbeing outcomes for facilitators. Facilitation was experienced as a unique relationship and mode of performance, and as work ideally suited to facilitators' skills and interests. Facilitators' experiences exhibited all five PERMA elements constitutive of wellbeing: positive emotions (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M), and accomplishment (A). These findings align with other research on the positive experiences of professional musicians, music educators and singing group participants, while contributing new understanding that facilitation of these groups can offer wellbeing benefits that compliment musicians' livelihoods. This is important knowledge for the facilitators themselves and for university educators who seek to inform the career choices of their students.

A Space for Collaborative Creativity. How Collective Improvising Shapes ‘a Sense of Belonging’

“…According to Noble and McGrath (2008) , in school contexts learners have a sense of ‘meaning’ when what they do also has an impact on others beyond themselves. In a sense, balancing and sometimes even subordinating the personal needs to the needs of the group and working toward a shared musical goal, as is often the case when making music together, may help gaining a positive perspective on, and gratitude for, your own life ( Forbes and Bartlett, 2020 ). This is where the idea of participatory sense-making, as elaborated by De Jaegher and Di Paolo (2007) , is of interest.…”

Understanding the Association between Musical Sophistication and Well-Being in Music Students

“…It is important to highlight these results since the experience of singing (choral practice), as a direct musical expression, could improve well-being as pointed out in previous research [ 50 ]. However, this benefit would be selective since an association between the OMSI and negative emotions is observed, which indicates that there is a group of students that is excluded.…”

“…Indeed, for there to be a change in epistemological beliefs, very particular conditions are required, where psychological aspects are articulated within a particular context of social interaction [ 71 ]. Without these elements, which largely depend on the learning environment, future teachers may not fully experience well-being in their professional future, as has been reported in recent research related to context of studying singing [ 50 ]. It is important, then, from a didactic point of view, to consider in greater depth the nature of these students’ previous experiences, to strengthen support networks among peers, and to foment equal opportunities for teaching of the arts at school.…”

Living in Artistic Career: The Role of Job Crafting towards Work Identity for Musicians

“…Therefore, they need to be active in doing their related activities to maintain their identity (Ascenso et al, 2016). Moreover, previous study also reported that individuals who perform facilitating roles in singing groups for some time, have generated identity, suggesting that their work may open opportunities for self-actualization and bring goodness to the members (Forbes & Bartlett, 2020).…”