From music student to professional: the process of transition

higher education music institutions have a responsibility to their students to do all that
is possible to foster a highly developed musical self-concept, which has been found to
underpin success in negotiating this critical transition (Burland et al., 2004).

Conclusions

This study highlights the notion of transition as a process that offers difficult
challenges, yet has the potential to be facilitated by investing in the development of
musical versatility and organisational skills, nurturing specific personality
characteristics, and providing the context in which a strong and enduring community
of practice may evolve. The evidence presented here suggests that higher education
music institutions may assist their students throughout the transition process by
exploring the potential for cross-genre peer networks and prioritising the importance
of mentoring and fostering a versatile musical self-image for performance students.

An important finding from this study is that musicians representing a range of diverse
musical genres have much in common, sharing similar fears and obstacles throughout
the transition process and benefiting in similar ways from supportive professional
networks and performance opportunities. Furthermore, apart from obvious specific
areas such as improvisation versus notation, the skills and personality qualities that
help to smooth the transition from student to professional were not found to differ a
great deal amongst the genres.

Clearly interview studies such as this one have limitations in terms of scope and
sample size. It is hoped that the themes that have been identified will be tested in
further research. In particular, it is hoped that the speculative discussion relating to

20

<<   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   >>

More intriguing information