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Despite its status as an analogue sound carrier, the cassette has shown remarkable resilience in the digital era. Drawing on qualitative data gathered in three significant markets for cassettes, Japan, Australia and the USA, during 2018 and 2019, this article explores how the cassette tape's material significance in the 21st century manifests itself in a complex network of interrelated local, translocal and virtual practices of music creation, distribution and consumption. The article draws on Magaudda's 'circuit of practice' concept and Peterson and Bennett's three tier model of scenes (local, trans-local and virtual). Taking the cassette's hybrid occurrence and usage throughout a plethora of highly distinctive music scenes in Japan, Australia and the United States as a basis, we argue that Magaudda's 'circuit of practice' theory needs to be structurally extended to grasp the multifaceted circuits of music in the digital age. This requires that the occurrence of a single audio format such as the cassette is recurringly analysed within different cultural contexts in order to map and delineate the format's overall significance for contemporary music practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music Education is changing rapidly worldwide. What effective and promising practices in music teaching and learning are available and can be cross-culturally applied? Using Finland as a case study, this exploratory research highlights promising current endeavors in primary and secondary school music education. In light of these undertakings, data were collected from interviews with students and teachers in Australia and England (N = 25) to investigate if these practices would be considered promising in both Australia and England. The results revealed four key areas of promising music teaching and learning: (1) Allocated Time for Music Teaching and Learning; (2) Teacher Training and Expertise; (3) A Diverse, Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Curriculum, and; (4) Transition to Tertiary Education. A number of practical recommendations are proposed and their pedagogical significance discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that the framing of jazz diaspora in relation to Australia must embrace significant antecedents of jazz-related performance and culture in Australia, including blackface and African-American minstrel show music, improvisatory popular and art music practices and various subgenres of ragtime. It argues that the spirit of "jazz" as a vehicle for extroverted self-expression and identification with American popular modernity and youthful rebellion through music, dance, and fashion was already present in the Antipodes from around 1912 to the final year of World War I, when a "ragging" and "jazzing" novelty act called Australia's First Jazz Band appeared in vaudeville. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participating, learning music and performing are key factors to joining music ensembles. This paper situates itself in Melbourne (Australia) and forms part of my research project Promoting relationships through sound in formal and informal settings where I investigated why members of an instrumental group met to share their music making and practice and how it contributes to their quality of life. I draw on a phenomenological viewpoint from questionnaire and interview data undertaken in May 2018 with the ensemble players. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis that is reported thematically under three broad headings: Music learning for self as a community, wellbeing and spirituality, and sharing music for the community. The findings show that staying active as older adults (50+) contributed to members sense of wellbeing as they continued to engage with music learning and performance. Playing for personal growth contributed positively to members quality of life as a serious leisure activity. Generalization to other instrumental community groups in Australia cannot be made. Further research is required to support the perceived meanings and benefits of planning, preparing, practicing and performing as older musicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares and evaluates the music components of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the NSW Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. To guide the analysis, this article employs Bernstein's (1971) concepts of classification and frame, and the two levels of 'best practice' in primary music education proposed by Jeanneret and Stevens-Ballenger (2013). Adoption of the PYP by schools has increased significantly throughout the past decade to the extent that it is now the most widely implemented of the four IB programs currently available in Australia (Kidson, Odhiambo, & Wilson, 2018). However, despite its growth in popularity, little research within Australia has focused on the PYP and even fewer, if any, studies have explored its implications for music education practice both nationally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]