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“We’re an organisation that uses the power of music away from the stage”, says founder Lucas Dols, a Dutch bass player who began this journey 13 years ago in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp, then home to 140,000 people who had fled the war in Syria. “Our focus is working in places where people and communities are affected by war, conflict and displacement.” In 2025, this has included projects in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Ukraine.
Training changemakers not musicians
What’s interesting about Sounds of Change isn’t just where it works, but how. The organisation trains ‘changemakers’ to use improvisation and creative composition as a tool for connection and expression. The changemakers are local professionals from partner organisations with little or no musical background, such as aid workers, psychologists, and teachers.
Sounds of Change deliberately avoids the traditional approach to music education: “I want to avoid those judgments about who plays well and who doesn’t”, says Dols. “You don’t have to play piano or guitar to make a melody, and you don’t have to have a trained voice to sing.” Instead, it focuses on sharing simple tools. The starting point is that everybody participating can make an equal contribution. And from this starting point, “if you facilitate a creative process with small steps, you can achieve something beautiful.”
“That's my passion”, adds Lucas. “I want to work with people on the level that everybody can understand, everybody can follow, and everybody can do it. This increases the chance that people will integrate the tools that we share with them in their own work with others.” For people experiencing war and trauma, these sessions can help reduce stress and offer moments of joy and connection.
The organisation also hosts an academy in the Netherlands each year, where it trains individuals working with refugee communities and people living in challenging circumstances, with the same tools.
The funding model is a mix of grants from Europe (including funding from Switzerland to support Sounds of Change projects in the Middle East) and income from partner organisations working in conflict zones. The organisation responds to direct requests from partners but doesn’t invest much resource into selling its work. Lucas aims to keep everything fleet of foot, flexing and contracting to meet project needs.
The democratic power of improvisation
At the centre of the Sounds of Change methodology lies Lucas’s “strong belief in the power of improvisation”, and it is this focus that makes its approach distinctive.
In the countries where Sounds of Change is active, many people have experienced or are still experiencing a loss of control and freedom. Lucas explains how improvisation can help people feel that energy of autonomy: “Improvisation really gives space to participants to make their own choices… composing together, exploring possibilities, people feel that their individual voice is valuable and that they are part of something.”
He regularly sees trainees “balancing each other, giving space to each other, listening to each other, respecting different opinions.” This often shows up in how people interact outside the sessions, too, including how they engage with others in their own work.
Trauma-sensitive approaches
Over the last four years, Sounds of Change has worked closely with Trauma International, learning more about the impact of trauma on the brain and how to work sensitively with people who’ve experienced trauma. This has helped the organisation better understand why music is such a powerful tool in these contexts.
The daily reality of working in conflict zones requires constant flexibility and responsiveness. This includes a check-in at the start of a session, and respecting how people are feeling that day, which might mean a new plan rather than continuing with what’s been prepared.
It’s also about building an atmosphere of psychological safety for participants. “That's why not everything we do is related to music”, says Lucas. “A lot of our work is about interpersonal connections, sharing emotions and showing who you are. This is the first step you need to be able to make music together afterwards."
He reflects that this feeling of safety can also be missing from formal music education at conservatories. “If you are a sensitive musician and there's a teacher who isn’t very patient or empathetic, you don't feel safe, and you don't produce what you would be able to if you were in a safe space. In that safe space, people dare to try something new, or to make a mistake, reflect and try again.”
Lucas observes that many musicians and artists already work in sensitive ways, but they are not always aware of this. “I think every musician in the world knows that music can be healing and connecting,” he says. He recommends people learn more about the science behind why music and art contribute to people's psychosocial wellbeing to gain a deeper understanding of why music is such a powerful tool in these contexts.
Language and cultural communication challenges
Sounds of Changes works across many different languages and cultural contexts, which can present challenges. The organisation has grown to a team of eleven international trainers, making it easier to match a partner with a trainer who not only speaks the language but also understands the cultural context, which is often more important. If there isn’t a trainer who speaks the language, the trainer works with translators.
Of course, music is a language we all share, and this helps build trust and connection with participants. The first time Lucas was in Jordan, he didn’t speak Arabic, but he learned some Arabic songs on his melodica: “When I don't speak the language, I try to invest in learning the music so that I can make the first connection through playing a song.”
Lucas also explains that when training facilitators, Sounds of Change makes it clear that “although we are the experts in our methodology, you are the experts in what your community needs.” He adds, “We know we cannot make a programme in Amsterdam that will work in north east Syria. It needs to be a collaboration with local professionals. We’re not here to tell you what to do, but we can give you tools that might be useful in your work.”
Working across different countries and contexts means moments of cultural clumsiness do happen. In Jordan, Lucas once demonstrated body percussion using chest movements, only for a participant to say it was haram (forbidden). He has learned to approach these moments with humility and openness. "We cannot really avoid making mistakes, but you can show your vulnerability and learn from it, say sorry and ask the participants what works for them."
Refining and adapting the methodology
Over eight years of training local changemakers, Sounds of Change has refined its approach by paying close attention to what works and what can be improved.
"It's not about what you do, it's more about how you do it," says Lucas. The specific musical activities matter less than the facilitation skills needed to deliver them effectively. “How do you read a group? How are you sensitive to what's happening in the group? And how do you change your plan and respond to that? This is essential when working in the contexts in which Sounds of Change trainees are active.
One of the most important methodological changes came after realising that the training focused too much on hands-on experience, overloading changemakers with material and activities. Surveys showed that while participants left with positive energy and ideas, they struggled to apply what they had learned.
Since then, the focus has changed to mastering a few core approaches through repetition. Lucas explains: "Instead of doing 20 different variations, we focus on 'let's do these five and let's really practise them this week – how do you do it yourself, how do you react to certain things, and how can you do it again?'”
The COVID pandemic was also a learning opportunity. With travel impossible, Sounds of Change worked online for over two years, developing new approaches that have since become permanent features of their work. It created a library of short videos demonstrating exercises and explaining theory. Lucas says: "We even delivered training via WhatsApp. We developed a lot of material that we can also deliver online."
Lucas explains that this approach has proved particularly valuable in Gaza. "We did training in Gaza earlier this year through WhatsApp and still have a group with 75 aid workers. We made simple films, low-quality, so they don't use too much data. We had exercises and theory, and explained it in Arabic." The team also established regular Q&A sessions - three-hour slots on specific days when participants could ask questions via audio.
Measuring impact and future ambitions
Measuring the impact of this work is tricky: "It's difficult to measure impact and create an evidence base when our model’s emphasis is on flexibility and responding to specific groups in the moment,” says Lucas.
Instead, Sounds of Change uses surveys to track changemakers’ development, asking the same questions across different countries and contexts. But Lucas acknowledges the limitations: "We have little influence on how they will actually do it [deliver the sessions] or for how long. That's why we've designed our method to be accessible and practical. For continuity, we depend on our partner organisations."
The organisation has also faced situations in which entire trained teams were made redundant when partner project funding was cut, or when organisations like USAID shift priorities. "But still, we have a big impact on the individual level because what people learn is still something they will bring to new projects."
Lucas’s ambition is that in five years, there will be enough local trainers in all the countries that need them. The trainers will deliver the training autonomously, with the programme coordinated from the Netherlands. The organisation is also developing an app that includes the methodology and a social element, so participants in the training can be part of a wider peer network and remain connected to the smaller group they trained with.
The deeper ‘why’
When asked what advice he would offer musicians who want to work in social and community contexts, Lucas says that first, it’s essential to understand one’s own motivation. He believes we should be encouraged to think about this from an early stage. "I'm not sure if anybody during my own music education asked me: ‘Why do you play this instrument?’ or ‘What do you want to do?’ or ‘Who are you?’ Those deeper questions are so valuable because you need to realise what you want to say and how you want to say it."
His own answer is clear. "For me, it's not about the music I play; it's more about what I achieve through music. My ‘why’ is connection and creative expression. It's giving people something to think about, to activate them, to connect them, and to inspire them. What I do now, I find as interesting, as exciting and as creative as what I do on stages as a musician myself.”
For those interested in learning more about Sounds of Change's methodology or exploring collaboration, Lucas extends an open invitation: “How can a festival, for example, have more space to highlight the power of music, not only on stages but also beyond and how to involve vulnerable groups as an audience? I'm happy to play a role in that conversation.”
Lucas’s ‘why’ is channelled directly into the work of Sounds of Change. And by offering local changemakers training and creative, accessible tools, these spaces for activation and connection in conflict-affected communities can be locally sustained and replicated.
Photos courtesy of Sounds of Change
EJN Music and Community Award 2025: The power of improvisation
The power of improvisation: building connection and healing in conflict-affected communities
Sounds of Change has been awarded the EJN Award for Music and the Community 2025, recognising the initiative’s pioneering work in conflict areas around the world.
“We’re an organisation that uses the power of music away from the stage”, says founder Lucas Dols, a Dutch bass player who began this journey 13 years ago in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp, then home to 140,000 people who had fled the war in Syria. “Our focus is working in places where people and communities are affected by war, conflict and displacement.” In 2025, this has included projects in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Ukraine.
Training changemakers not musicians
What’s interesting about Sounds of Change isn’t just where it works, but how. The organisation trains ‘changemakers’ to use improvisation and creative composition as a tool for connection and expression. The changemakers are local professionals from partner organisations with little or no musical background, such as aid workers, psychologists, and teachers.
Sounds of Change deliberately avoids the traditional approach to music education: “I want to avoid those judgments about who plays well and who doesn’t”, says Dols. “You don’t have to play piano or guitar to make a melody, and you don’t have to have a trained voice to sing.” Instead, it focuses on sharing simple tools. The starting point is that everybody participating can make an equal contribution. And from this starting point, “if you facilitate a creative process with small steps, you can achieve something beautiful.”
“That's my passion”, adds Lucas. “I want to work with people on the level that everybody can understand, everybody can follow, and everybody can do it. This increases the chance that people will integrate the tools that we share with them in their own work with others.” For people experiencing war and trauma, these sessions can help reduce stress and offer moments of joy and connection.
The organisation also hosts an academy in the Netherlands each year, where it trains individuals working with refugee communities and people living in challenging circumstances, with the same tools.
The funding model is a mix of grants from Europe (including funding from Switzerland to support Sounds of Change projects in the Middle East) and income from partner organisations working in conflict zones. The organisation responds to direct requests from partners but doesn’t invest much resource into selling its work. Lucas aims to keep everything fleet of foot, flexing and contracting to meet project needs.
The democratic power of improvisation
At the centre of the Sounds of Change methodology lies Lucas’s “strong belief in the power of improvisation”, and it is this focus that makes its approach distinctive.
In the countries where Sounds of Change is active, many people have experienced or are still experiencing a loss of control and freedom. Lucas explains how improvisation can help people feel that energy of autonomy: “Improvisation really gives space to participants to make their own choices… composing together, exploring possibilities, people feel that their individual voice is valuable and that they are part of something.”
He regularly sees trainees “balancing each other, giving space to each other, listening to each other, respecting different opinions.” This often shows up in how people interact outside the sessions, too, including how they engage with others in their own work.
Trauma-sensitive approaches
Over the last four years, Sounds of Change has worked closely with Trauma International, learning more about the impact of trauma on the brain and how to work sensitively with people who’ve experienced trauma. This has helped the organisation better understand why music is such a powerful tool in these contexts.
The daily reality of working in conflict zones requires constant flexibility and responsiveness. This includes a check-in at the start of a session, and respecting how people are feeling that day, which might mean a new plan rather than continuing with what’s been prepared.
It’s also about building an atmosphere of psychological safety for participants. “That's why not everything we do is related to music”, says Lucas. “A lot of our work is about interpersonal connections, sharing emotions and showing who you are. This is the first step you need to be able to make music together afterwards."
He reflects that this feeling of safety can also be missing from formal music education at conservatories. “If you are a sensitive musician and there's a teacher who isn’t very patient or empathetic, you don't feel safe, and you don't produce what you would be able to if you were in a safe space. In that safe space, people dare to try something new, or to make a mistake, reflect and try again.”
Lucas observes that many musicians and artists already work in sensitive ways, but they are not always aware of this. “I think every musician in the world knows that music can be healing and connecting,” he says. He recommends people learn more about the science behind why music and art contribute to people's psychosocial wellbeing to gain a deeper understanding of why music is such a powerful tool in these contexts.
Language and cultural communication challenges
Sounds of Changes works across many different languages and cultural contexts, which can present challenges. The organisation has grown to a team of eleven international trainers, making it easier to match a partner with a trainer who not only speaks the language but also understands the cultural context, which is often more important. If there isn’t a trainer who speaks the language, the trainer works with translators.
Of course, music is a language we all share, and this helps build trust and connection with participants. The first time Lucas was in Jordan, he didn’t speak Arabic, but he learned some Arabic songs on his melodica: “When I don't speak the language, I try to invest in learning the music so that I can make the first connection through playing a song.”
Lucas also explains that when training facilitators, Sounds of Change makes it clear that “although we are the experts in our methodology, you are the experts in what your community needs.” He adds, “We know we cannot make a programme in Amsterdam that will work in north east Syria. It needs to be a collaboration with local professionals. We’re not here to tell you what to do, but we can give you tools that might be useful in your work.”
Working across different countries and contexts means moments of cultural clumsiness do happen. In Jordan, Lucas once demonstrated body percussion using chest movements, only for a participant to say it was haram (forbidden). He has learned to approach these moments with humility and openness. "We cannot really avoid making mistakes, but you can show your vulnerability and learn from it, say sorry and ask the participants what works for them."
Refining and adapting the methodology
Over eight years of training local changemakers, Sounds of Change has refined its approach by paying close attention to what works and what can be improved.
"It's not about what you do, it's more about how you do it," says Lucas. The specific musical activities matter less than the facilitation skills needed to deliver them effectively. “How do you read a group? How are you sensitive to what's happening in the group? And how do you change your plan and respond to that? This is essential when working in the contexts in which Sounds of Change trainees are active.
One of the most important methodological changes came after realising that the training focused too much on hands-on experience, overloading changemakers with material and activities. Surveys showed that while participants left with positive energy and ideas, they struggled to apply what they had learned.
Since then, the focus has changed to mastering a few core approaches through repetition. Lucas explains: "Instead of doing 20 different variations, we focus on 'let's do these five and let's really practise them this week – how do you do it yourself, how do you react to certain things, and how can you do it again?'”
The COVID pandemic was also a learning opportunity. With travel impossible, Sounds of Change worked online for over two years, developing new approaches that have since become permanent features of their work. It created a library of short videos demonstrating exercises and explaining theory. Lucas says: "We even delivered training via WhatsApp. We developed a lot of material that we can also deliver online."
Lucas explains that this approach has proved particularly valuable in Gaza. "We did training in Gaza earlier this year through WhatsApp and still have a group with 75 aid workers. We made simple films, low-quality, so they don't use too much data. We had exercises and theory, and explained it in Arabic." The team also established regular Q&A sessions - three-hour slots on specific days when participants could ask questions via audio.
Measuring impact and future ambitions
Measuring the impact of this work is tricky: "It's difficult to measure impact and create an evidence base when our model’s emphasis is on flexibility and responding to specific groups in the moment,” says Lucas.
Instead, Sounds of Change uses surveys to track changemakers’ development, asking the same questions across different countries and contexts. But Lucas acknowledges the limitations: "We have little influence on how they will actually do it [deliver the sessions] or for how long. That's why we've designed our method to be accessible and practical. For continuity, we depend on our partner organisations."
The organisation has also faced situations in which entire trained teams were made redundant when partner project funding was cut, or when organisations like USAID shift priorities. "But still, we have a big impact on the individual level because what people learn is still something they will bring to new projects."
Lucas’s ambition is that in five years, there will be enough local trainers in all the countries that need them. The trainers will deliver the training autonomously, with the programme coordinated from the Netherlands. The organisation is also developing an app that includes the methodology and a social element, so participants in the training can be part of a wider peer network and remain connected to the smaller group they trained with.
The deeper ‘why’
When asked what advice he would offer musicians who want to work in social and community contexts, Lucas says that first, it’s essential to understand one’s own motivation. He believes we should be encouraged to think about this from an early stage. "I'm not sure if anybody during my own music education asked me: ‘Why do you play this instrument?’ or ‘What do you want to do?’ or ‘Who are you?’ Those deeper questions are so valuable because you need to realise what you want to say and how you want to say it."
His own answer is clear. "For me, it's not about the music I play; it's more about what I achieve through music. My ‘why’ is connection and creative expression. It's giving people something to think about, to activate them, to connect them, and to inspire them. What I do now, I find as interesting, as exciting and as creative as what I do on stages as a musician myself.”
For those interested in learning more about Sounds of Change's methodology or exploring collaboration, Lucas extends an open invitation: “How can a festival, for example, have more space to highlight the power of music, not only on stages but also beyond and how to involve vulnerable groups as an audience? I'm happy to play a role in that conversation.”
Lucas’s ‘why’ is channelled directly into the work of Sounds of Change. And by offering local changemakers training and creative, accessible tools, these spaces for activation and connection in conflict-affected communities can be locally sustained and replicated.
Photos courtesy of Sounds of Change
