Mariko Kunitomo Art Music as a Universal Language : Youth

The objective of this thesis is to identify the role of art music in the context of youth orchestra projects that directly deal with social conflicts of specific youth populations. Art music plays a major role in the positive influence of these youth orchestras that giving its young musicians the opportunity to learn and develop, both socially and personally, in a healthier or alternative manner. I argue that art music serves well in this particular context because it is a universal language that allows for the communication and expression amongst the musicians themselves and with others. It is this communicative nature of art music as a universal language that allows the young musicians of the youth orchestra projects to overcome social conflict. I apply concepts from a wide variety of disciplines to support the idea of art music as a universal language. Three orchestras – the Retiro Youth Orchestra, El Sistema, and the WestEastern Divan Orchestra – will be examined to understand specific youth orchestra contexts. The metaphysical explanation will be based on Arthur Schopenhauer’s concept of the Will while cognitive neuroscience of music, linguistics, and philosophy of language will provide additional approaches to make sense of music as a universal language. Music’s expressing an emotion as it exists in all human beings, i.e., as it exists as part of the Will, means that it can affect the entire audience and be readily understood at a universal level. It is this all-encompassing, communicative and affective nature of music that makes it a universal language.