New Audience Symposia #2: Concerts Behind Prison Walls

The second digital New Audience Symposia, part of the EU co-funded project 1000+ Concerts: Innovating Higher Music Education Through Social Inclusion, brought together 26 participants from eight European countries. Alongside Musethica representatives, researchers, and project partners, four representatives from correctional facilities in Austria, France, Spain, and Germany shared their perspectives. Their stories gave the symposia a special depth: they spoke not only about concerts as events, but about what music can mean in places defined by control, routine, and strict hierarchies.

A recurring theme was the sense of freedom within confinement. Even if physical freedom is absent, music creates inner spaces where inmates can breathe, reflect, and feel human again. One story stood out in particular: after a Musethica concert in Bourg-en-Bresse (France), an inmate asked to write a letter to the local project coordinator. For him, the experience meant symbolically stepping outside the prison walls, at least for a moment.

The conversation moreover revolved around the importance of trust and respect. In correctional facilities, relationships are often shaped by rules and distance. During a Musethica concert, however, inmates, staff, and musicians encounter each other on equal footing. Listening together, sharing emotions, and even exchanging words afterwards creates bonds that are rarely possible in everyday prison life. For the staff members, this was one of the most valuable aspects: at this moment, the inmates are seen not just as prisoners, but as people with stories, feelings, and dignity.

Perhaps the most striking outcome of these concerts is their peaceful aftermath. Staff members reported how the atmosphere in the prison changed after performances: calmer, softer, more human. For a short time, music bridged divides not only between inmates and musicians but also between inmates and staff.

However, organizing concerts in correctional facilities is anything but easy. Every movement inside the prison is tightly regulated, audiences must be carefully selected, and permissions can take months to secure. Even then, last-minute changes or cancellations are common. Yet despite this bureaucracy and unpredictability, participants agreed that the effort is worthwhile. When the music finally begins, all the obstacles fade into the background.

The next New Audience Symposium takes place on September 18th from 17h30 to 19h00 CET (online via Zoom). The topic: “The Psychiatric Ward as a Concert Hall”

In order to register for the event, please contact us via registrierung@musethica.org.