Closing the gap: does music-making have to stop upon graduation?

This paper discusses research examining the perceptions of people who continue to be musically active beyond their formal schooling years. These are individuals who are neither professional musicians nor university music majors; all pursue music avocationally. Through interviews and focus groups with members of three community ensembles (directed by the researchers), we sought to better understand how these avocational musicians viewed their own reasons for participating in music-making, and what, if any, connection they perceived between their school music experience and their present experience.