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  • The Role of Institutional Music Education in The Formation of Musical Taste of St. Petersburg Middle Class Youth

The Role of Institutional Music Education in The Formation of Musical Taste of St. Petersburg Middle Class Youth

Student: Pushnova Anastasiia

Supervisor: Margarita Kuleva

Faculty: Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Sociology (Bachelor)

Final Grade: 9

Year of Graduation: 2019

Nowadays there are transformations in modern society associated with the distribution, consumption and interpretation of music. In this regard, it is important to understand not only how music can be consumed, but also how music is perceived and how different categories of people talk about it. The music school is the institution where people are taught to understand and interpret music. In turn, the main formation of institutionalized cultural capital occurs precisely in childhood, when a child begins to attend classes at a music school. In this paper I want to concentrate on the subjective understanding of the formation of musical taste among youth, because the basis of musical taste is forming in childhood. The main goal of the study is to determine the role of the music school in the formation of musical taste and other subjective factors affecting it. The work is based on a qualitative methodology using the method of focus groups for collection of information. Four focus groups were conducted among girls and boys of the Russian middle class with and without music education. The results of the analysis demonstrate that music education plays a fundamental role in the formation of classical musical taste and in the understanding of music. Musical tastes should be considered in a dynamic context and as one of the aspects of self-representation of young people. Finally, the “omnivorous” pattern can play a role in the “closet” consumption of music, regardless of having the music education.

Full text (added May 24, 2019)

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