A Journey Through Self-Compassion: The Exploration of a Choir-Composer-Conductor Collaboration

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore a collaboration between two student composers, a collegiate choral ensemble, and a faculty choral conductor in preparation for two new student-composed choral compositions centered on self-compassion. The two student composers each composed a piece of music with texts related to self-compassion. The ensemble rehearsed the pieces for 15 weeks, then performed them at the end of the semester. Data sources included: (a) three interviews with each of the composers, (b) weekly journal entries for each of the composers and the conductor, (c) four focus groups with members of the ensemble, (d) texts from the compositions, and (e) composer conversations with the singers. Using the communities of practice theoretical framework and the self-compassion construct, three themes emerged: increased awareness of self-compassion, excitement in musical shared experience, and community building.