Summit for Music in Peacebuilding Co-Hosted by MOMRI and Queen’s University Belfast

From June 9th through June 11th, 2026, the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) co-hosted a Summit for Music in Peacebuilding with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in Northern Ireland. We are grateful to our Affiliate and long-time collaborator, Professor Fiona Magowan of QUB, for the opportunity to convene in Belfast. This was our first in-person meeting since October of 2024. Eight MOMRI Affiliates attended including Dr. Geoff Baker (UK), Dr. Mary Cohen (US), Dr. Gideon Danja (Nigeria), Dr. Fiona Magowan (UK), Dr. Phil Mullen (UK), Ai Nakatsuka (Japan), Dr. Andrea Rodríguez-Sánchez (Colombia), and Dr. Kevin Shorner-Johnson (US). MOMRI is comprised of Director Dr. Olivier Urbain (Japan), Research Fellow and Digital Strategist Dr. Elaine Sandoval (US), and Research Fellows Dr. Michael Golden (US) and Dr. Craig Robertson (UK).

MOMRI Research Fellows and Affiliates held intensive discussions about research and practice in Music in Peacebuilding over the course of the three days. In doing so, we focused on the main thematic areas we developed in 2024: music’s relationship to violence; music’s potential role in the prevention of violence, and music’s potential role in post-violence repair and reconciliation. MOMRI Research Fellows and Affiliates reflected on what research has been done on those topics and what questions remain open for ongoing research. Our discussions were lively and full of both vigorous debate and identifying points of convergence. We realized that we were comfortable and able to have such conversations and frank dialogues because of the many years we’ve been working together; these relationships have been growing steadily and developing trust since MOMRI was founded 12 years ago.

In addition, we had the opportunity to offer mentoring on academic work and professional guidance to several doctoral students from QUB and to engage in intellectual dialogues with other academics from the university. MOMRI Research Fellows and Affiliates were generously welcomed by Dr. Kieran McEvoy, Chair in Peace, Security and Justice at the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice and a Professor of Law and Transitional Justice at QUB, who shared his background as a post-conflict lawyer and his own appreciation of the role that music can play in peace efforts. Dr. McEvoy, Dr. Magowan, MOMRI Director Urbain, and the MOMRI Research Fellows were able to take a commemorative photo on a bench in the courtyard of the QUB Lanyon Building which features a plaque dedicated to Min-On founder Daisaku Ikeda and his wife Kaneko on the occasion of Ikeda receiving an honorary doctorate from QUB in 2009. 

MOMRI and QUB discussions were further supported by a MOMRI project, in which Dr. Sandoval interviewed a variety of stakeholders prior to the Summit, in order to share findings about how research can be translated into the language and formats used in the peacebuilding and development fields. We discussed the insights from these interviews and identified best practices for sharing about Music in Peacebuilding with other fields and professions. MOMRI is grateful to the various stakeholders who participated in these interviews!

MOMRI was very happy for the opportunity to reconnect with Darren Ferguson, CEO of Beyond Skin, a significant arts and peacebuilding organization in Belfast. Darren and two of his collaborators had a dialogue session with MOMRI and Affiliates at the Seamus Heaney Centre at QUB, named for the Nobel literature laureate. They shared their work with refugee and migrant communities, and in particular, how new relationships with the local Belfast population were orchestrated through spaces and opportunities for arts engagement.

On June 12, MOMRI Directory Olivier Urbain also had the chance to meet Gary Coey in person for the first time. Gary Coey is a teacher at Glengormley High School; in a previous collaboration between Darren, Beyond Skin, MOMRI, Glengormley, and the C&S School (Japan), Gary was crucial in the creation of the lyrics of the song "Far Away."

MOMRI Research Fellows and Affiliates have met monthly on Zoom since 2023, and plan to continue their work together. Alongside our individual ongoing research on Music in Peacebuilding, we identify our collective role in the field as being able to contribute helpful guidelines and recommendations to other researchers, organizations, and practitioners.