This week, welcome BACK to the show Dr. Marques Garrett, who last appeared in episode 17, “Beyond Elijah Rock,” where many of us were introduced to the concept of “non-idiomatic” music of Black composers. In this episode, part of the “Oxford Series,” Marques returns to celebrate his latest contribution to the growing canon of music by Black composers […]
inclusion
The Belonging Buffet
Obvious: All humans need to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. Less obvious: Teacher’s have less power to actually achieve this with all students than we think. We can WELCOME all students. But belonging has to be mutual and organic. Hot take: not ALL students need this from their school or ALL of their […]
Leveling the Playing Field with Dr. Chantae Pittman
On this episode Dr. Chantae Pittman joins me in the ongoing conversation surrounding the philosophy of choral music education. Why are we there? What is our function? Just how critical is it that students who complete a term or more in vocal music in school are able to reach some level of music reading proficiency. Dr. Pittman […]
Creating Laboratories for Friction with Mónica Guzmán
Classrooms have become ground zero for the problem of political polarization. What is being taught, who is teaching it, how it’s being taught, how it is funded, etc. Are we teaching Critical Race Theory, or are we not? Should we be? These and many questions have become a toxic political football. The problem of this […]
Don’t Abandon the Canon! With Dr. Anika Prather
Like many topics in education, we have strains of the same philosophical divides in music education as we do in other areas of education. This week, my guest Dr. Anika Prather is the perfect person to address and offer a bridge to one of those divides. She has a background in both Music Education as […]
Choral Music is a Celebration of What We Have in Common
While using our differences to our advantage. I have become very interested over the last three years in learning from people that see the world through lenses that rarely get amplified on social media or by large institutions. They seem to me, rightly or wrongly, as interesting BECAUSE they are different. The defier of stereotypes […]