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Volume 18, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1752-6299
  • E-ISSN: 1752-6302

Abstract

Refugees were among the social groups most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With many already living in sequestered communities, the imposed restrictions on their mobility amplified their isolation, causing them to be further separated from the outside world. Particularly impacted were Syrian refugees, one of the world’s largest displaced populations, living in camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Prior to the pandemic, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) offered music programmes in the Syrian refugee camps, in the form of psychosocial community-music interventions. At the onset of the pandemic, this option was limited in the refugee camps, which became off-limits to social workers for fear of spreading the virus in the overcrowded camps. Drawing on personal and virtual interviews conducted since 2018, alongside virtual ethnographic research through social media platforms, this article examines two music-based intervention programs, Fayha National Choir and Sounds of Change, as case studies within Syrian refugee camps. It analyzes their resilience during the global lockdown and identifies the key enabling factors and obstacles that affected their ability to sustain engagement with their target communities. How and why have (or have not) these programmes prevailed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how has the pandemic continued to influence their activities in the aftermath?

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2025-11-20
2026-02-14
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/content/journals/10.1386/ijcm_00126_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): choral singing; community music; COVID-19 lockdown; Fayha National Choir; music and well-being; Sounds of Change music programme; Syrian conflict; Syrian refugees

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