Book excerpt: Music and Music Education in People's Lives is one of five paperback books derived from the foundational two-volume Oxford Handbook of Music Education. Designed for music teachers, students, and scholars of music education, as well as educational administrators and policy makers, this first book in the set provides a framework for understanding the content and context of music education, and for future action within the profession. A broad examination of the philosophical, psychological, cultural, international, and contextual issues that underpin a wide variety of teaching environments or individual attributes is paired with 25 relevant and insightful commentaries from established scholars and music educators. Taken as a whole, Music and Music Education in People's Lives gives clear direction to how the discipline of music education can achieve even greater political, theoretical and professional strength. Contributors Harold F. Abeles, Nick Beach, Wayne D. Bowman, Liora Bresler, Patricia Shehan Campbell, Richard Colwell, Robert A. Cutietta, David J. Elliott, Sergio Figueiredo, Lucy Green, Wilfried Gruhn, David Hargreaves, Sarah Hennessy, Liane Hentschke, Donald A. Hodges, Christopher M. Johnson, Estelle R. Jorgensen, Andreas C. Lehmann, Richard Letts, Håkan Lundström, Raymond MacDonald, Clifford K. Madsen, Andrew J. Martin, Marie McCarthy, Katrina McFerran, Gary E. McPherson, Bradley Merrick, Dorothy Miell, Graça Mota, Bruno Nettl, Bengt Olsson, Susan A. O'Neill, Johnmarshall Reeve, Bennett Reimer, James Renwick, Huib Schippers, Wendy L. Sims, David J. Teachout, Rena Upitis, Peter R. Webster, Graham F. Welch, Paul Woodford