ABSTRACT
Within the context of an internship programme designed to offer student musicians authentic workplace experiences, this chapter investigates how and why students reorientate their learning for future careers. Firmly placed in the students’ new understanding is the element of professional and musical identity, which requires aspects of reflection on their sense of self as a work-ready graduate. Much of the journey of discovery requires authentic leadership to navigate the various challenges and affordance of beginning a career in the creative and performing arts. Leadership development and musician identities are therefore complex ideas, yet they are rarely addressed explicitly within higher music education. The chapter examines 15 student experiences during a semester-long internship journey where self-reflections on leadership, musical identity, future professional self and bridging the gap between theory and practice were all discussed. The research was designed to reveal new perspectives on the preparation of undergraduates for a successful transition to work, with a particular focus on student musicians as they move through multiple domains of identity. Results show that reorienting learning for career relevance is important in the education of professional musicians to enable the development of essential, transferable skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, workplace negotiation and problem solving.
