On 3 December 2021, authors and members of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Musical Arts in South Africa: Resources and Applications (MASARA) research niche area hosted a hybrid launch of the book titled Ritualised belonging: Musicing and spirituality in the South African context.

Extraordinary professor June Boyce-Tillman, Prof Liesl van der Merwe and Dr Janelize Morelli are the editors of this book – the culmination of a three-year National Research Foundation-funded research project titled “Social Cohesion through Community Music Engagement”.

The launch gave the contributors an opportunity to introduce the book – which informs and enhances readers’ repertoire of musicing strategies in both community and educational contexts – to the public.

In this publication, the authors interrogate the notion of belonging through musicing rituals in the South African context. They raise issues such as what can be learned from musicing rituals, what it means to belong through musicing, and how musicing could address marginalisation and transform a broken society.

“Although this book focuses on musicing in the South African context, international readers will also benefit from this volume’s rich theoretical and methodological contributions,” says Dr Morelli, co-author and a senior lecturer in community music.

“It investigates the potentiality of cultivating a sense of belonging through musicing rituals to heal a mutilated world,” she adds.

Prof June Boyce-Tillman proudly displays the book Ritualised belonging: Musicing and spirituality in the South African context. Prof Boyce-Tillman, Prof Liesl van der Merwe, and Dr Janelize Morelli are the editors.