Music is more than just a feel-good diversion; for eons it has bound societies together and served as a medium for social change - from the anti-war folk songs of 1960s America to the music of the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars of today. As a...
Music is more than just a feel-good diversion; for eons it has bound societies together and served as a medium for social change - from the anti-war folk songs of 1960s America to the music of the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars of today. As a mediator and peace-building practitioner, I have worked to teach the skills of listening, sensitivity, trust-building, and cooperation to help disputing parties resolved their conflicts. As it turns out, these are the very same skills that musicians need to develop in rehearsing and performing with each other! Our theory is that the act of making music with others refines skills that transfer into other areas of life and society. What's more, empirical studies are now emerging that demonstrate what music therapists have known for decades; music can have significant beneficial impact on brain physiology, perhaps even developing the capacity of empathy and psychic healing after trauma. Peace Acchord's guiding principal is that if more children could engage in meaningful music-making with those of different faiths, tribes, families, ethnicities, we may seem a longterm shift in conflict dynamics, from Burundi to inner-city Los Angeles.
I've been a lifelong musician, and I began solidifying the idea for Peace Acchord as a graduate student studying conflict resolution as the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. I saw that many scholars, artists, and peace-building practitioners were beginning to explore the connections between music and social change, but there was little collaboration. Music therapists were not talking to ethnomusicologists; performers were not talking to conflict resolution workers. I saw the need for a global organization in which these different thinkers could share ideas and explore possibilities. I also saw that we were still stuck in what I call the "Kumbaya" model - that if we just sing about peace and justice (think We Are the World), that will effect lasting peace. No question, there's a lot of social value in artists creating music about peace! But it is in the actual act of making music that I believe that we have the real potential to influence conflict dynamics over the long term. Too many young people living in conflict have no opportunity to make music with each other.
As a consultant with humanitarian projects, interim CEO of Peace Direct US, and Assistant Music Director of the New York City Housing Authority Youth Chorus, Peach Acchord ties in directly with my work. As part of the research and development phase, I am assembling a global network of musicians-peace-builders and generating a prototype workshop curriculum that combines collaborative group dialogue, performing, improvisation, and composition. Next year, experts from various disciplines - from psychology to ethnomusicology - will present their latest thinking at a conference/festival in New York City, and musicians dedicated to peace will perform. Looking ahead, we will be expanding our roster of Advisors, which currently include the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, Juilliard's President Dr. Joseph Polisi, and renown child psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Jones, OBE.
Our next step will be to train a group of volunteer musicians in Peace Acchord music workshop design, who will travel to conflict-affected areas to work with local musicians at the grassroots level to help them deliver the workshops to children in those communities. Peace Acchord volunteer musicians work in the service of the local musicians: we provide them with the support and expertise they need to facilitate a meaningful musical journey for the kids, in their local cultural and musical traditions.
In a Peace Acchord workshop, the musician facilitators help children imagine what their community might look like in the absence of active conflict, what would need to happen for their community to achieve lasting peace, and the roles the children may play in achieving that peace in the years to come. Children play interactive improvisational music games to build trust and give voice to their feelings. As the capstone of the workshop, they compose an original piece of music that becomes their theme song for peace.
Developing an idea like this from scratch has been an enormous learning experience. My biggest lesson: don't rush. Many gung-ho international non-profits spring up each year, led by capable people with great intentions and huge passion but with ideas that are not fully thought out and tested. Their flames often die out, sometimes publicly and embarrassingly, as quick as they burst onto the scene. My tactic has been to work under the radar for some time now, often resisting pressure from collaborators to "launch now and launch big." I embrace our current obscurity because it gives us precious space to think creatively and build a solid foundation from which to grow. Peace Acchord is fuelled by the generosity of individual donors in its early stages, and their support is immensely gratifying.
This article first appeared in the TASIS England Today magazine, Autumn 2012 issue.