Imogen Morris – författare

This book investigates how education and participation shape musical identity across the amateur–professional spectrum, reframing amateurism as a space of passion, dedication and authenticity rather than deficiency. It treats the amateur–professional divide as a social construct—made in pedagogy and institutions—then shows how teaching and learning can unsettle that divide in practice.Once celebrated for their intrinsic love of music, amateurs today are often dismissed as lacking skill or seriousness. This edited collection challenges that narrative by foregrounding the unique value of amateur music-making and by demonstrating why many of the same pedagogies that empower amateurs also strengthen professional practice. Through diverse case studies and theoretical perspectives, it highlights the formative experiences, pedagogical practices and community contexts that shape musicians’ journeys. Across the chapters, this volume shows what musicians are taught, how they are taught and the dynamics that support their development in settings from secondary schools and examination systems to studio teaching and community ensembles. Topics such as motivation, repertoire and leadership appear alongside broader themes like the amateur–professional divide and the social role of music. Vocal music and choral settings—often central to amateur music-making—receive special focus in the later chapters.This book is intended for scholars and advanced students in music education, pedagogy, sociology and cultural studies. It will also resonate with music teachers, conductors and arts policymakers interested in supporting inclusive and meaningful musical engagement. While many chapters center on Aotearoa New Zealand, the themes and insights hold international relevance for contexts where amateur music-making thrives—across Europe, North America, East Asia and Australia. This volume contributes to underexplored scholarship on amateur musicianship and advocates for a more equitable and expansive view of musical life.Chapters 1 and 3 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Details the wide, integral and influential role played by 'amateur' participants in early nineteenth-century Vienna's musical life.During Franz Schubert's lifetime in early nineteenth-century Vienna, amateurs and dilettantes were a vital part of the music scene, so much so that Eduard Hanslick considered it the high point of musical dilettantism in Vienna. Schubert himself participated extensively in this rich world of domestic music-making. Around 1800 terms such as "amateur" and "dilettante" had broader and more positive connotations than today, and "amateurs" could indeed often portray a high skill level. The book considers the amateurs' and dilettantes' identities and motivations for making music, and their various roles in the musical life of early nineteenth-century Vienna. It dives deeply into contexts, performance practices and spaces, as well as instruments that have so far been little explored. Musical Amateurs in Schubert's Vienna uncovers new key agents in early nineteenth-century Viennese musical life who have so far remained invisible.