Student Focus Group #3

Takeaways

• There's a significant divide between vocal music and instrumental music -- oftentimes, a vocal piece with text that clearly communicates history or cultural diversity will be programmed to celebrate and acknowledge composers of color, while an instrumental piece is left unheard. Schools need to program a diverse array of music within the subsection of composers of color, even if some pieces are less obviously connected to a certain cultural heritage.

• Jazz features a canon with LOTS of music by composers of color, and we don't hear about it much. One school held a concert billed as a celebration of African American music and jazz was not included at all -- it was mostly concert spirituals. Representation must be accurate and it must recognize its own limitations. Students notice exclusion like this.

• The process of becoming a composer and being properly recognized as one is remarkably difficult, and the community is riddled with elitism. Issues of representation exist on all sides -- only a select number of composers get into important retreats, publishers make choices based on who they recognize from exclusive events, teachers and performers only choose music that others have successfully programmed -- the system is stacked against breaking through. All areas have to make a conscious effort to be more inclusive.

Music by Composers of Color