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!

What I Did on My (Impromptu) Winter Break

In case you were living under a rock (which was still likely warmer than much of the Midwest), Michigan and surrounding states were smacked in the face by the Polar Vortex. Considering that the extreme cold came just after a snowstorm on Monday, we had most of last week off which left me with some time for some projects.

The week off came just after our state music conference which featured more sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion than I ever remember occurring before! Because self-awareness is always a work in progress, it also featured performances from instrumental groups, including the All State ensembles, playing pieces by entirely men and few, if any, composers of color. The performances were outstanding, and I honestly enjoyed all the selections, but it really felt like a lot of missed opportunities.

After last year's personal revelation that my lack of awareness was part of the problem, it's become something I can't unsee. Programs of all white, all male, often dead composers are very much the norm from beginning band concerts to performances from the best high school instrumentalists in the state and our students deserve better.

All this got my wheels spinning about composer diversity again and brought me back to conversations regarding state lists for Band Festival (MPA, Contest, etc). Trying to program pieces for Festival from diverse composers is challenging. I know because I ran head first into the issue this year. Finding pieces from women or composers of color that also fit our ensembles was just this side of impossible. Neither of my groups are playing a required piece by an underrepresented composer because there were so few to choose from. They're actually all playing works by Carol Brittin Chambers, but one group is playing a march and the other is taking one as our selected which does not have to come from the Basic Music List (BML).

The BML is full of great pieces of band literature. It also serves as a great tool to help directors choose music for their groups. After spending both high school and college playing upper level lit for large ensembles with full instrumentation, I had no idea where to start choosing music for 19 students in a 9-12 Band. The BML gave me ideas on pieces, composers, and levels of music that would be accessible for my students.

However, it is definitely lacking much in the way of diversity. Last year I missed the deadline to recommend music to our state organization for the BML. This year I'm getting a jump start on it though and attempting to crowd source suggestions too by sharing this Google Sheet of pieces by underrepresented composers to pass on to the BML Committee. I know there are great resources out there such as The Institute for Composer Diversity and Jodie Blackshaw's list. But to have something added, our state organization needs specific titles. I've been living in the same grade levels of music for a while now, so getting some ideas from people outside the middle school band world would be outstanding. Several people have already added to the list and I'd love for more to join in! If you know of any level piece for band or orchestra on your own state list or something you've played that would make a good addition, please share in the comments or send me an email suggestion. I'll check it out and get it added. Or if you're a Michigan teacher, please add it right to the spreadsheet!

All this has also kicked me in the butt on getting our Who We're Playing display going. It's not quite what I envisioned, and nobody's going to Pinterest this one, but it's there now. I'm proud of our selections all being by living composers and each group working on a piece by a woman...but they're all doing pieces by the same woman. And our current composers are a little monochromatic. Seeing them all up there is really providing some accountability for me and I've already got my eye on some pieces so that we can do better for the spring.

Representation matters. Through working to change things in my own little corner of the Band Universe and collaborating with others to update our BML, hopefully more and more students can identify with the composers whose music they're performing. Please consider adding a selection to the Google Sheet above or sending me a suggestion. The smartest person in the room is the room. Help make our room more inclusive.

#WhoWerePlaying

I had an odd moment a while prepping for our Spring Concert. For the first time since playing Anne McGinty's Red Balloon several years ago, I used female pronouns in reference to the composer of a piece we're working on (Julie Giroux's March of the Sun-Dried Tomatoes was a blast, by the way!). I pointed out that odd feeling to my students, and they were even more surprised because in their time of being members of our band, they'd never played a piece written by a woman.

That's on me.

Big time.

It shouldn't seem out of the ordinary to play instrumental music written by a female composer. It should be a norm. I'm sure the argument about "good music for the sake of good music" will come up. And this is not meant in any way to discount music written by men. I've played plenty of outstanding compositions on both sides of the baton written by men and will continue to do so.

However, for a long time, only men were allowed to write and publish music. Which in turn inspired more male composers. Which has perpetuated a cycle of undoubtedly excellent male composers, and very little else.

What about the girls who now can write and publish their own music? How often do they see someone who inspires them to pursue that passion? How many creative voices are silenced before they even get the chance to start because they don't relate to the people writing the music they play?

We're 50% of the population, but look at the spring band concert programs being shared this time of year (mine included!) and check the percentage of female composers listed.

Just as important is doing a better job for my students of color. They deserve to see and hear music written by people who look like them. The cyclical pattern is just as prevalent there. I have no doubt that we've missed out on countless musical experiences based only on the fact that the people who might have created them didn't have the "right" skin color, ethnicity, religion, etc.

And so rather than getting and staying frustrated, I'm going to do something about it. Thanks to suggestions from friends and this list on Jodie Blackshaw's site, I've found a large number of pieces written by great variety of female composers that are accessible for my middle school students. I hope to have each ensemble play a piece by a female composer for each concert next year. Admittedly, I gained a head start on this list thanks to a district grant to update our middle school band libraries, but some purchases will still need to be made.

I need some help though! I'd like to do the same for composers of color, but have not found as centralized a listing as the one for female band composers. I'm looking for some Grade 1-3 title suggestions that we can add to our library. Please share ideas, leads, recommendations!!!

Next year we will have a "Who We're Playing" display outside the band room with a picture of each composer, the title of the piece, and a QR linking to the composer's site or bio. Even without an extensive discussion on the background of each the composers, students will be able to see and learn about who wrote the music we're playing.

I'd like others to join us as well! Share what your students are working on with the #WhoWerePlaying tag next year (don't worry, I'll repost but I know people need time to start looking for music).

Representation matters. Let's change the implied messages our students are getting about who does and does not or who can and can not write music. Not because that music isn't worth playing, but because all of our students deserve ensemble experiences where their creative voice feels valued too.

addendum:

Here are composers added to our library this last year as part of a grant from The Rochester Community Schools Foundation:

• Julie Giroux
• Jodie Blackshaw
• Quincy Hilliard
• William Owens
• Carol Brittin-Chambers
• Sarah Smith
• Yukiko Nishimura

Here's a really useful listing of pieces by women and minority composers shared with me after posting this blog in various places.

Another great resource list for female and minority composers!

Also, The Composer Diversity Project launched in June 2018! It is an AMAZING resource!