Whether you’re someone with professional training, or just the type who likes to sing along to the radio from the safety of your own car, pursuing music volunteer opportunities abroad could be the perfect way for you to combine your interests, see the world, and share your talents.
If you’re looking for a unique experience, look no further than music volunteer opportunities abroad.
When you help others access music, you’re giving them so much more than the single experience of hearing something interesting or learning a new skill. Music is a portal that lets you travel to new places and spaces through the arrangement of sounds.
Music can soothe, inspire, and mobilize. It adds color to the landscape, allows us to recall a memory, or capture a moment. Music is a gift for the senses — and when you pursue music volunteer programs abroad, you get to share that gift with others.
There are countless options for what that experience might look like, and where it might be. It could be an opportunity to teach music abroad; it could be sharing your own musical talents with others as an art therapist or a program counselor; it could even be combining music education with some other volunteer abroad experience.
There truly are as many music volunteer opportunities abroad as there are songs to share.
10 best music volunteer programs abroad
Editor’s note: This information on music volunteer projects abroad was accurate at the time of publishing. Please refer to each individual program for current data.
1. South Africa – Cape Town Community Projects — 10
If your passion is music, volunteering abroad with programs like this one will allow you to put that passion to good use. Partnering with others who share your goals, you can work with families and children to contribute to the community-building efforts in Cape Town, South Africa.
With your specialized talents in music, you can partner with other volunteers working in the arts to bring a new sense of education and hope to developing communities. Music can be a great source of joy within education programs — and the joy will surely be a positive influence.
- Where? Cape Town, South Africa
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to 12 weeks
- Read GoEco reviews
2. Teach Performing Arts to Disadvantaged Children — 10
Music is big business in the Philippines, and it has been for thousands of years! Evidence that traditional gong music had an influence on other cultures exists from well before the 10th century B.C. And if you go to the Philippine Visayan Islands to volunteer to teach music today, you will get to share in that history.
Experience modern-day cultural exchange as well, when Western pop-culture influences mix with other local forms of Philippine music like folk music, Rondalla, Tinikling, and OPM (Original Pinoy Music). As part of the volunteer experience, you will also get to participate in a homestay with a local family, enjoying local foods and culture.
- Where? Tacloban City, Philippines
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to 12 weeks
- Read Volunteer for the Visayans reviews
3. Transform Lives Through Music as a Volunteer in Uganda — 8.5
If you’ve wanted to see Africa and you love music, volunteering abroad in a program that allows you to lead workshops, host classes, and complete individual program plans in the beautiful country of Uganda could be the perfect fit!
You will stay with a host family during your stay, adding to the enrichment you will experience when you teach music abroad. Another possible perk if you’re partnered up, is that this is one of the programs available to individuals and to couples — so you can share your talents as a team.
- Where? Rural Areas in Uganda
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to 6 months
- Read Living Music Foundation reviews
4. Care Work with Children in Argentina with Projects Abroad — Leave the first review!
If you’re looking to help others access the joys of music while also brushing up on your Spanish, this opportunity to teach music abroad is a great way to achieve your goals! Even better, if you’re part of a couple (or if you already have a family of your own), this opportunity will allow you to bring them along.
You will work with children in an orphanage in Cordoba while staying with a Spanish-speaking host family. Plus, all your meals are included, as is full travel and medical insurance for the duration of your travel and stay!
- Where? Cordoba, Argentina
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to a year
- Read Projects Abroad reviews
5. Global Internship & Volunteer Programs with Connect-123 — 9.75
When you think about volunteer abroad programs, music education definitely sounds like a rewarding way to combine volunteer work with celebrating the arts. What would make it even more rewarding, especially if you’re someone who likes to know that everything is perfectly on point? Having your program handle all the details to create a completely customized project to ensure that you have the best possible experience during your time in one of several available locations.
- Where? Argentina, Australia, China, Ireland, South Africa, Spain
- When? Year-round
- Duration? 9-12 weeks; 3-6 months
- Read Connect-123 reviews
6. ISA Service-Learning in Lima, Peru — 9.5
When you’re taking a service learning approach to music, volunteering abroad includes an element of reflective practice that appeals to those wanting to have a personalized experience. This program puts a priority on making sure that your opportunity is the right match for you.
ISA also makes sure that all volunteers (in all of the available programs and subjects, including music) are able to participate in an in-country onboarding and orientation process, so that you can feel super-prepared before heading off to your specific location. And, if college credit is part of what you’re looking for, you can gain support through their University of the Pacific team.
- Where? Lima, Peru
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to 12 weeks
- Read ISA reviews
7. Volunteer Abroad & Make a REAL Difference — 9.59
When you’re exploring options to teach music abroad, if your checklist includes features like a wide variety of locations to choose from, and an affordable program, you’re in luck with this opportunity!
Offering 200+ community-based programs in 37 developing countries, this program will also put you in touch with others who (like you) are looking for safe, meaningful, sustainable ways to make a difference through volunteering abroad. And, with group-living and guest house accommodations as options, you might find that your roommate becomes a friend for life.
- Where? Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Nepal, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Rwanda, Palestine, and more
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to a year or more
- Read Love Volunteers reviews
8. Volunteer in Guatemala. A Life-Changing Experience Abroad! — 10
When you choose to work as a volunteer teaching music in Guatemala, you will also learn about Mayan culture, get excellent practice with cooking as you work to prepare traditional Guatemalan cuisine, and improve your Spanish language skills.
And, if you’re a chocolate-lover, even better news — you will get to roast cacao beans, peel and clean the seeds, and cook your own hot chocolate to enjoy with your host family as you share conversations about the history of this beautiful place.
- Where? Rural Areas in Guatemala
- When? Varied start dates; see website for more information
- Duration? Up to 12 weeks
9. #1" class="wysiwyg-hashtag">#1 Affordable Volunteer Programs — 9.53
IVHQ makes just about every one of the “best” lists for volunteering abroad, in part because they have a massive list of locations you can choose from while offering a good deal of flexibility with available service times (anywhere between one week to 24 weeks).
They have a track record for both program volume and safety. So if you’re looking for an established program to share your talents for music, volunteer abroad work with this provider is a solid way to get started!
- Where? Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Uganda, and more
- When? Varied start dates; see website for more information
- Duration? Up to 12 weeks
- Read IVHQ reviews
10. Music Volunteering in Costa Rica — 8.67
Unlike some other volunteer abroad programs, music education (and the performing arts as a whole) are the sole areas of focus of this volunteer abroad opportunity. Traveling to Costa Rica sounds amazing on its own, but when you add in Spanish language classes (for you!), free salsa and Latin dance classes daily, and Costa Rican cooking classes every week, you can see how the opportunities for you to learn are just as much a priority as the opportunity for you to share what you know about music through teaching others.
- Where? Rural Areas in Costa Rica
- When? Year-round
- Duration? Up to 8 weeks
- Read Performing Arts Abroad reviews
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Volunteer teaching music abroad will be anything but treble
Your talent for music will change lives!
If you’re already imagining impromptu sessions of song and dance by a community fire, or thinking about how you, guitar in hand, might find yourself under some local tree, learning to play some new local song, odds are that you’re already mentally on your way to music volunteer projects abroad!
So make sure you do what you need to do in order to get yourself there physically, as well. That includes everything from exploring these programs (and others!) to finding the perfect fit to making sure you have all the information you need to travel to the country of your choice for an extended stay as a music educator.
Music volunteer programs can provide some of the best opportunities for you to spread joy, see the world, experience new cultures, share your talents, and learn new things. But why stop with that list? You can also expand your language skills, increase your musical repertoire, and put a skill into the hands of another that will help them live a richer life.
When you work as a music volunteer, programs like the ones mentioned in this list provide you with an excellent starting point for taking your talents on the road to help others — but there’s no telling where this adventure could take you. The world is full of songs waiting to be written...and sung!
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