The Promise of Music: Music in Prisons and Detention Centres

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How can music programs in prisons and detention centres contribute to rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into society? In places of incarceration where human dignity and sense of self is repressed, creative expression offers a fragile yet vital form of agency.

Drawing on years of collaborative research within the SIMM research network and the lived experience of the founders of a ground-breaking prison program, we will show the value of music both as a tool for rehabilitation, but also as a form of identity-building, quiet resistance, and constructing positive relationships.

Rather than romanticizing the role of music, we critically examine the limits and risks of musical practice in prison settings, how power, vulnerability, and institutional control affect prison music programs, and the ethical responsibilities of practitioners in working musically with the incarcerated.

This session will include a presentation by Anne-Katherine Dionne (University of Toronto), alongside reflections by a panel of experienced practitioners and researchers in this field. We hope to provoke dialogue around the complexity of music’ impact in places of confinement.

The presenters will play a recorded message from Alanis Obomsawin

Event Artists

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The Promise of Music: Music in Prisons and Detention Centres

Date/Time
Thursday, October 9, 2025
9:00 pm - 10:30 pm

Location
The Creative School Chrysalis
43 Gerrard St E
Toronto, ON
Canada, M5G 2A7

Price
$12

Phone
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Website
https://promiseofmusic.com/events/

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