Progress!

For those playing along at home, I had a moment (embarrassingly, much more recently than I'd like to say) where I used female pronouns in relation to the composer whose music we were rehearsing. That sparked a moment where I realized that nearly everything I'd ever done with students was by a male composer. More on that and our Who We're Playing board here.

After my first board, we were able to have a slightly more expanded one with far more composers from a variety of backgrounds. With the first one being rather monochromatic, this was an improvement. Even better was when students were actually gathered around it and scanning the QR codes!

Following that came some further discussions and a lot of it centered around "The List" for ensembles to select required pieces for Festival/Contest/MPA/etc. So many of us rely on The List for repertoire ideas not just for Festival but performances year round as well. That brought me to this.

There were a lot of excellent suggestions (both Jodie Blackshaw's site and the Institute for Composer Diversity were GREAT resources to find ideas!) added to the Google Sheet that I was able to pass on to our State VP for Music Selection. Traditionally music suggestions have been submitted through a printed form in our state yearbook, so I was grateful he took a spreadsheet as it streamlined the whole process a lot. After I sent it on, he asked if I'd like to be a part of the Music Selection Committee which I was thrilled to do!

Our meeting started at 9:30 and we had the daunting task of reviewing nearly 140 pieces of music! I admit I was basically useless for the first hour or so as we listened to orchestra music. My one semester of strings my freshman year of college is getting further and further away. It was fascinating to listen to though and just listening to my orchestral colleagues discuss things, was able to learn a bit.

Going through the process with those who'd done it before was interesting. While I've learned through experience what approximate grade levels something would be classified as under MSBOA, the conversations were enlightening. For example, while an overall piece might considered a Class C or D, the presence of significant solos often bumped it a level.

Another conversation revolved around the idea that while we might have loved a piece, it might not be appropriate for The List. Works with extended aleatoric sections leave A LOT of room for interpretation that could be challenging for a rated performance. Another issue was music that required electronic instruments. One committee member brought up the fact that her older auditorium has almost no access to outlets onstage. Unfortunately this made it hard to add pieces by composers like Alex Shapiro even if we really liked the music. A different piece required a grand piano not just to be played traditionally but for additional effects that can only be done with a grand.

Around 4PM, after nearly eight hours of critical listening, here's what we ended up adding! The majority of everything added for band was by minority composers and all outstanding literature. I'm so honored to have been a part of the committee and excited for the step towards diversity MSBOA took. I'm particularly grateful to Matt Shephard, the VP for Music Selection who enthusiastically encouraged the mass suggestion of pieces and dove headfirst into sorting through them all with the committee last week.

It felt good to be a part of a progressive step forward in a real way rather than just talking about an issue! The List has so much power in so many ways when it comes to whose music is and is not played. Taking steps toward diversifying it will hopefully have a positive impact for a long time to come and I'm proud to be part of an organization that is making such positive waves!

THANK YOU again to everyone who contributed music recommendations!!!!!

Looking ahead, I'd love to learn more about how other organizations update their Lists. Please share what your state's process is so we can start helping each other make updates!