MOMRI Affiliate Geoffrey Baker publishes new book Musicking in a relational key: music education and community music for a time of metacrisis

MOMRI congratulates our Affiliate Dr. Geoffrey Baker on the recent publication of his 2026 book, Musicking in a relational key: music education and community music for a time of metacrisis. The book is freely available Open Access online, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Read it HERE!

The book is described as follows:

Musicking in a Relational Key examines music education and community music through the lens of relationality. Engaging critically with prominent ideas in these fields and presenting case studies from Latin America, the book argues for a reorientation at a time of overlapping ecological, social, and political crises – or metacrisis. It questions the dominant model of "social action through music," exemplified by Venezuela's El Sistema, and proposes alternatives centred on relationality: the idea that human flourishing depends on our connections with one another and with the wider web of life.

It is through relationality that music meets the biggest challenges of our time. Music-making (or "musicking") can help us explore and foster the connections humanity urgently needs, opening up possibilities to imagine and enact alternative ways of being, relating, and acting. Highlighting the notion of relational design, this book is a manifesto for a relational turn in music education and community music, offering a critique of the present and a hopeful contribution to building a more connected future.