The Orchestra Generation: School and music – the social experiences of a group of young

people, until the emergence of new individual dispositions. Folow-up study between
2015-2018.

The “Orquestra Geração” (Generation Orchestra) Project is an instrument of social

mobility, democratizing cultural practices, whose core is the social inclusion of the most
disadvantaged urban social classes, through collective practices of music teaching. The
project, thus, promotes the introduction of new theoretical knowledge and practical skills,
which will have positive impacts on future experiences (personal, school, professional
and social).

This study focused on the processes of (re)socialization and (re)structuring of the life
paths of 17 students, in the 9th grade of schooling in three school groups in Lisbon,
between 2015 and 2018. We were particularly interested in exploring whether changes
have occurred in the essential dimensions of the students’ individual and social
experiences, once they have concluded their musical training in the project. These young
people have been portrayed sociologically in Lahire’s (1998) perspective, and the study
sought to examine the impact of musical practices in Orchestra on their individual and
social dispositions, nuanced by the smallest of contexts.