Adaptation of the Extra-Ordinary Music Camp during a pandemic: resilience as vector of innovation

The Extra-Ordinary Music Camp is a research project whose objectives are: (1) to offer an inclusive environment for musical creation adapted for extra-ordinary youths, and (2) to study how participatory, informal, inclusive, and adaptive musical creation activities impact extra-ordinary youths’ communication and social interaction abilities. The present article addresses adaptations made to the project following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the originally planned activities. Using viewpoints from four undergraduate and graduate student facilitators who served as session leaders and researchers on the project, the Extra-Ordinary Music Camp’s evolution from an in-person to a remote research project will be described. First, the initial study design is introduced. Then, we detail the ways the project was adapted online as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: we present the adaptations made to musical training (pedagogical plan), research tools, and modalities of collaboration between team members. Finally, certain preliminary results are presented and contextualized in light of these significant adaptations to the organizational, scientific, and pedagogical plans.