Music in theatre and post-deployment: re-evaluating the therapeutic benefits of sound

Music has played an important role in the lives of twentieth-century combatants, but recent technologies such as MP3 players are now ubiquitous, rendering music more accessible than ever before and allowing soldiers to shape their sonic landscapes in considerably more personalized ways. Although scholars have examined US soldiers’ musical practices while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, no research to date has investigated the musical practices of Canadian military personnel. In this article, I explore how music might help Canadian veterans manage the pressures associated with deployment and cope with psychologically-based operational stress injuries.