Rethinking Community in Community Music: The Call, the Welcome, and the ‘Yes’

Community music has a growing programme of scholarship and international projects. As a musical practice that emphasises people, participation, places, inclusivity, and diversity, those that work in the field do so across an increasing array of contexts and environments. Lee Higgins begins by outlining why he believes the work is of importance. Following this, he describes community music as an ‘act of hospitality’ and offers a conceptualisation of how this manifests within the practice and why it should be considered an important theoretical device in understanding the intent of those that both work and advocate for it. As a cultural and social imperative in the construction of human relationships, the analysis of hospitality through the field of community music contributes to the discourse of rethinking community as an interdisciplinary concept.