The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) conducted a national report which indicated a disproportionate percentage of music education and performance graduates according to race, with black students graduating at 6.6% (McKoy, 2012). HBCUs are vital to improving the representation of Blacks, especially in high-need schools and…

Straddling the role of conductor-teacher can be a daunting task for young artists. Providing space to hone both musical and pedagogical skills can lead to transformative moments for young conductor-teachers. As someone who experienced this complementary space first-hand, I can attest to the sustainable effects on one's teaching and artistry.…

Musical settings that require consumers to construct their own musical instruments serve as potential sites of reconnection between musicians, the musical instruments they make, the natural resources that comprise those instruments, and the labor required to produce them. When musicians reconnect in these ways, they are able to understand and…

In this chapter the notion of assemblage is put to work in order to understand how the early career researcher-musician-educator comes to be formed from the milieu. An analysis of the relationship between research as knowledge production and the artistic desire for aesthetics and affectivity is undertaken to trouble the boundaries that separate…

This study investigated the music performance anxiety experiences of musicians in Turkey (N = 270), including their physical and cognitive symptoms of anxiety, their methods of coping with performance stress, and their perceived need for related resources. Analysis of the data revealed statistically significant differences in gender, with female…

Shifting school schedules, small class sizes, and unpredictable instrumentation resulting from the global pandemic necessitated a creative approach to teaching ensemble music classes this year. In response to that challenge, I constructed a curriculum for developing independent musicianship through chamber music. Part independence,…

Scott Joplin (1868-1917) was an African American composer and pianist of singular merit and influence. Academic interest in Joplin has increased in recent years, leading to new discoveries about the composer's activities, yet teaching materials have not been updated at the same pace as 21st-century findings. Joplin was an entrepreneur, a…

Nipsey Hussle is a post hip hop icon. In this essay, we mine popular music and media coverage of Nipsey to describe his artistry and advocacy anchored by his articulation of an African American diasporic identity, his ambivalence as an independent rapper within a mainstream music industry, and his leverage of Black capital in his Crenshaw…

The American Brass Band Movement (1835-1892) is an important period within music history that is disproportionally and inadequately taught in collegiate music history classrooms. By learning about America's band history and by performing in these ensembles, future music educators will be able to have a more well-rounded understanding of the…

The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of repertoire performed by youth orchestras in the United States. Through an online survey, youth orchestra administrators (N = 39) provided information about repertoire performed by their program's premier orchestra during their 2015-2016 season. Orchestras performed 302 different…

It is almost as if there are two Bartóks -- the amiable collector of Hungarian folk music and the 'infernal' barbarian intent on destroying the music of the past (Gillies, 2010). These two sides of Bartók's character may be seen in such disparate works as "The Miraculous Mandarin" (1919) and his "Suite" No. 2, Op. 4 (1904-07).…

Successful House Concerts rely on an equal positive interaction between three groups of people: the musicians (or artists), the audience and the host, with the performance being the central activity. A concert facilitator may be engaged by the host to assist with organisation. Each has a participatory role to ensure that the House Concert…

This essay represents my attempt to develop an expanded voice-as-researcher. My intent is to create a space for an improvisatory and playful process of self-discovery through writing aimed at extracting deeply-held, even concealed, possibilities rarely invoked in my practices as researcher. To facilitate this process of self-discovery, I use a…

This article reports on a case study in a Norwegian primary school where nearly 50 fifth-grade pupils took part in a creative music-making project. Facilitated by two professional artists, they created an original piece of music and performed their composition for an audience at the end of the project week. A substantial part of the data consisted…

In this second of three in the series, we explore methods for incorporating instrumental ensembles into your music classroom. Experiences such as performing on ukulele, bucket drums, and in modern popular music ensembles are excellent ways to provide meaningful, relevant music education to students of all ages. Using both research-based…