Abstract
The research focuses on a qualitative analysis of classical music students in a university music program. This research investigates the interplay between personal-musical meaning and labor-market value in identity forming and the hierarchizing of academic spaces. This research investigates the personal impacts of situating music within neoliberal capitalism, and the processes used by musicians to negotiate this tension. The research involved two qualitative interviews with classical music students, field work, and extensive bibliographic analysis. The research contributes an analysis of musical hierarchies within academic spaces by demonstrating connections between music pedagogy and neoliberal capitalism. The resulting “musical capital” is an asset for artists who are actively developing pathways through which they may make economically viable their passion for music. I develop both the economic-political results of music education while highlighting the agency and reflexivity of students in pursuing classical music performance. The outcome is a theory of music practice which structures music as a forum for risk and reward, where students must navigate their art skillfully to achieve preferred results.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—The Art of Hospitality
KEYWORDS
Classical Music Education, Pedagogy, Music Labor, Neoliberal Capitalism, Hierarchy
