Roundtable: Building Bridges to a Better Future

When young people grow up facing adversity, whether through economic deprivation, violence, displacement, or multigenerational trauma, feelings of hopelessness, disengagement, and hostility can become internalized responses to their outward circumstances. Through self-destructive or even criminal behaviour, too often, young lives can be wasted or tragically cut short.

Against such overwhelming, soul-destroying odds, how can something as ephemeral as music make a difference? And yet, as our speakers have witnessed firsthand, music can inspire and catalyze an astonishing metamorphosis. It begins by showing young people that they are not alone. It affirms their potential to learn, to create and to achieve. And it nourishes an environment for personal growth, self-discovery and contributing to something greater than themselves.

The external realities of these young people may not immediately change, but through music, many develop inner strength, a sense of community, and spiritual and intellectual resources that help them rise above their circumstances and empower them to find a better way forward.