‘Inevitable’ Pathways? Multiple Stakeholders’ Testimonies on How Musically Gifted Children Are Driven into Professional Careers

For decades, the professional education of musically gifted children and the impact of parental upbringing have been critically examined in scholarly literature, highlighting a significant absence of care ethics regarding gifted minors’ welfare and rights. This phenomenography involved in-depth interviews with 20 gifted children enrolled in elite music programs across four Western nations, their parents, primary instrumental teachers, and institutional leaders. The pseudonymized data was analyzed to uncover recurring themes among participants. Findings reveal that, despite recent efforts to better “care” for gifted children, new and long-lasting challenges/traumas related to early professionalization in music manifest in educational and domestic environments.