The four music schools we investigated prioritize Western art music, which contributes to a
culture of elitism. Reflecting on the culture that exists in our institutions is vital to ensuring
that students can receive an education that is well-rounded and is responsive to their needs.
While the culture of an institution is not necessarily the structure built in place, existing
structures significantly influence social norms and culture. Many practices reemphasize that our music faculties are not built for our IBPOC students. Traditions, such as audition requirements, required courses for music degrees, representation in curricula, master apprentice pedagogies, and the types of courses both offered and required need to be reexamined as at best limiting and at worse colonizing.
In most cases, when auditioning into a music faculty, the recommended playing level is often set at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Grade 8 playing ability. At U of T, for instance, instrumentalists are expected to perform a movement from a concerto or a sonata, with a required music theory level to be at least 60% of RCM Grade 8 (University of Toronto, 2021). In addition, U of T’s page listing program requirements for a Bachelor in Music Performance states, “The History & Culture core introduces the concept of music from global as well as Western art music perspectives” (University of Toronto, 2021) where the bulk of their history and culture courses focus on Western art music.
The notion that Western art music is superior and the only valid form of music can also be seen when courses are separated into musicology and ethnomusicology. These slight differences in courses “others” non-western art music, as everything else not framed within the Western framework is placed into another category. At UBC, voice students are required to have multiple credits in Italian, French, and German, for their language course requirements, but only need to participate in one world music ensemble. We do recognize progress in the diversity of their ensembles, as UBC offers a Chinese music ensemble, Balinese gamelan ensemble, Korean drumming ensemble, and African Music and Dance ensemble. For a Bachelor of Music at Western, it is a requirement to have a minimum of three courses that focus on the history of Western art music, and one required course on Music Across Cultures. This single class is then tasked with fitting musics from cultures in every other part of the world into one course; failing to give anyone the opportunity to fully delve into the topics the same way we do for Western art music. When courses focus solely on Western art music and do not represent the importance of other musics and their practices, this sets and reproduces precedent, reinforcing a normative culture of the primacy and legitimacy of Western art music.
Work in EDI-D does not equate to incorporating “world music” or adding courses such as Music Across Cultures; there is also a need to focus on the importance of accessibility, reconciliation, and decolonization of an education in music. As such, emphasis needs to shift from a sole concentration on repertoire and samplings of music in cultures across the world, to equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization in the entirety of the education music students receive, which includes but is not limited to context, history, the act of collaboration and creation, representation, and responsiveness in resources and methods used.
Institutions also need to strive for reconciliation with the surrounding communities of the land they reside on, and specifically, decolonial indigenization. Gaudry and Lorenz (2018) describe
decolonial Indigenization as “balancing the power relations between Indigenous Peoples and Canadians” (p. 219). Just as it is not enough to simply include IBOPC into schools, it is also not enough to admit more Indigenous students into the school or hire more Indigenous staff. This type of inclusion can be dangerous and invites Indigenous People into spaces that actively work against them. Gaudry and Lorenz continue to outline challenges with reconciliation, “Communities, scholars, and administrators want better relationships, but are faced with the challenging task of reconciling these aspirations with a university culture that is still, for the most part, invested in Indigenous erasure and marginalization” (218). Structural changes must be made that can foment and support shifts in the culture of faculties of music.
The Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP) that UBC has begun to implement, also speaks
to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They have established their relationships with the local and global Indigenous communities, which demonstrates that they are not only creating partnerships with the Indigenous lands upon which they are situated, but far beyond that as well. The ISP recognizes the significance of connecting with other Indigenous peoples stating, “We have relationships with trans-boundary nations whose governments are based in the United States representing yet another set of relationships and responsibilities that we as a university community must nurture” (UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, 2020). The first of eight goals of the ISP is to “prioritize the advancement of Indigenous People’s human rights and respect for Indigenous Peoples at all levels of UBC’s leadership and accountability structure” (UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, 24). To name a few actions that lead toward their first goal, and are in the process of being fulfilled, UBC is developing Indigenous focused leadership roles, work with other universities in British Columbia, and leading efforts to address inconsistencies in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – a commission that was formed in response to the missing and murdered Indigenous women and residential schools. In 2015, the UBC music faculty partnered with Dené leaders in a project to honour First Nations music and activism. This project is called Dehcho, described by Liew as, “a bridge for reconciliation between Indigenous communities from the North and non-Indigenous people from the south” (Liew, 2020). Dehcho has since grown to be welcomed in more communities. During COVID, the project took recordings used from the project and developed them into online curricular packages (Liew, 2020). This type of project aligns with the goals of the ISP, as the aforementioned. All of the goals and actions within the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan hold the school accountable for moving towards decolonization and setting a precedent that other institutions can follow.
* The RCM is a music institution that focuses on Western classical theory and repertoire. The theory section focuses primarily on Western pitch and notation, scales, Western harmony and form of analysis, and vocabulary. Repertoire in the RCM syllabi is concentrated on Western art music and European composers. Royal Conservatory of Music (2016) https://files.rcmusic.com//sites/default/files/files/S44_TheorySyl_2016_ONLINE_RCM_V2_F.PDF
Suggestions:
Continue to find ways to connect the institution with the community that surrounds it.
Re-evaluate the spaces that welcome (or do not) Indigenous and other IBPOC folk. Is it a space made for all, or a colonial/hostile space that students are forced into?
Re-evaluate cultures you/your music faculty uphold that negatively impact select groups of people.
Questions:
What are changes you can make in your classroom to decenter yourself and make learning music about the interests, wants, and requests of the students in your classroom
What structures do you reinforce in your syllabi that undermine non-western art music?
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