Radical Ageing through Music Collaborative

The Radical Ageing through Music Collaborative (RAMC) aims to engage in bold conversations with a wide range of stakeholders including older adults, caregivers, care partners, music therapist clinicians and researchers, other arts in health advocates, scholars, agencies, foundations, healthcare organisations, and governments.

The RAMC was established in 2024 in response to evolving global conversations around ageing, music therapy, and social justice. Led by music therapists and researchers from ARU, the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (US), Concordia University (Canada) and the Norwegian Academy of Music (Norway), this international group aspires to expand discourse on underexplored dimensions of music and ageing and to address systemic and attitudinal challenges that can prohibit the realisation of best music practices for older adults.

Our mission

• To serve as a dynamic and innovative platform for critical and inclusive dialogue about ageing and the multifaceted roles music plays in human development and wellness.
• To advocate for the right of all older adults, their caregivers, and care partners to have access to a broad range of quality music experiences that will support their needs and realisation of personal potentials as they evolve over time.

Our values

• We understand ageing as an inclusive and lifelong process of human development, and challenge perceived homogeneity and ageist stereotypes of older adults.
• We recognise the intersectional identities of older adults and their unique personhood, and value their lived experiences.
• We support older adults’ right to self-determination.
• We value indigenous, creative, and other diverse knowledges and ways of knowing.
• We believe that music is a distinct domain of human functioning and holds inherent capacity to enrich and transform lives.
• We believe that music can serve as a catalyst for transformative social change and justice.

Keep an eye out for our forthcoming blog posts, which will expand on our mission and values and how we aim to realise them, and invite you to become part of the conversation.

For more information and to get involved, email [email protected]