This issue of the British Journal of Music Education marks a new phase in its development, as we welcome Alison (Ally) Daubney from the University of Sussex as co-editor, alongside Martin Fautley, who remains in position. In welcoming Alison we also say farewell and thank you to Regina Murphy for her work on the journal over the years she has been co-editor here, and we wish her all the best in her future teaching and research.

This paper presents research carried out in a kindergarten in Catalonia with the aim of studying the different kinds of musical activity that take place during one school day. This is an ethnographic study where the researcher became an extra teacher in a group of one to two-year-olds and interacted with them musically. The methodology is based in a participatory observation approach and data are collected via video-recordings, field notes and a daily exchange of impressions and reflections with the teacher. The results show four different kinds of participation that determine the type of musical activity carried out when children are placed in the spotlight: (a) active audience, (b) performer pointer (c) performer proof with expert, and (d) performer proof without expert.

The implementation of a school-based integrated curriculum enables schools to plan a balanced, flexible and coherent curriculum in order to reduce subject specification, especially in kindergartens. Despite kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) being encouraged to integrate music content across subject areas, these boundaries still exist and prove challenging. This instrumental case study shows how one kindergarten teacher attempted to integrate other subjects into the music curriculum through movement and games, and encourage children's creativity. Eight detailed observations of music lessons and an interview with the kindergarten teacher depict her efforts at integration. Findings show that some progress was made and that the support of the principal was pivotal. They also suggest ways in which kindergarten teachers might begin to incorporate more creative integrated approaches to music education and have some applicability to other kindergarten settings where transmission approaches tend to dominate and teachers want to encourage music integration and children's musical creativity.

Limited consideration has been given to the challenges young composers and performers face when learning to communicate through notation in contemporary classical music, and the specific opportunities presented for peer learning. This article describes a project at a Swiss music conservatory in which two student composers wrote pieces for solo piano which were performed by three student pianists. Students were deprived of collaborative opportunities, with communication limited to score markings and legends. Results from individual interviews are discussed in relation to categories of approaches drawn from existing studies on learning new piano works, on notation and on collaboration, plus new categories arising from this research. The challenges and potential opportunities arising from this approach are examined here, highlighting specific areas to be targeted for future peer learning.

This article outlines the development of an appropriate research approach, including methods from diverse disciplines, for researching the Colombian state-funded social music programme Music for Reconciliation (Música para la Reconciliación). After outlining the Colombian context and the literature, a pilot with ten participants is discussed. Findings show the contributions of sound postcards as part of life histories for capturing the experiences of displaced people in a country recovering from war. Their evocative capacity enriched the interviewees’ narrative, illustrating diverse sonorous landscapes throughout their lives that evidenced the changes generated by both the violence and programme participation. The conclusions offer suggestions for readers based in the arts, health, social sciences and beyond, interested in the uses of music and music education for other-than-musical purposes.

This paper reveals contemporary issues of music education in post-soviet Armenia. The author analyses the state of music education and draws special attention to the music education of adult beginners, which is a new challenge for the educational system of Armenia. In particular, the author reveals new problems in the performing arts, especially piano playing by adults, which brings with it many questions about new methodical approaches.

The author details ideas with respect to the psychological aspects of adults who wish to play piano and presents results of her tests on students from the chair of Music Education, Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan. She also provides observations and a number of recommendations for even more productive work.

Within a rapidly changing higher education landscape, there is an increased need for universities to look beyond their ‘ivory towers’ and into their surrounding communities in preparing students for the ‘real world’. Findings from an Irish case study explore a children's choral university-community initiative within an urban area of socio-economic disadvantage. The choral initiative involved 14 student volunteers and 150 children. Qualitative research, carried out over two years, involved student focus group interviews and reflective surveys. The research illuminates the multifaceted nature of the learning experience for students and examines to what extent such an initiative can build choral leadership capacity to work in school and community settings.