Small composers: creating musical meaning in a community of practice

The present chapter discusses roles and responsibilities of the collaborating partners in a creative music workshop called Small Composers. The aim is to be attentive to a number of potential alterations implicated by the collaborating partners’ different backgrounds. The following questions guided the study: What expectations do the class teacher and the professional musicians have to the creative practice, i.e. to the collaboration and to the musical outcome? To which extent do the collaborating partners share a common understanding of the aim, content and method of the workshop? How do the roles and responsibilities of the collaborating partners become visible through the practice? How do the professional identities of the teacher and the musicians become visible and what are the implications for the workshop as a musical community of practice?