Musicking on Balconies: Resilience in Times of COVID-19

Abstract

This article analyses the musicking phenomenon on balconies during
the first COVID-19 lockdown in Spain. Based on an extensive qualitative
analysis, the experience of performing, sharing, and listening to music
from and on balconies is presented as a socially resilient response. A
desire to help and assist others was the driving force for performers; the
networks created around the musical experience promoted feelings of
collective empowerment and were conducive to forming new patterns
regarding people’s membership of, and identification with, their
community. The analysis of the musicking phenomenon on balconies
makes a case for using social resilience as a tool for the social analysis
of pandemics. This can be focused on the complexities of social
responses to large crises, and advocate the role of the arts as spaces
for boosting new forms of social trust