Abstract
There is a surprising lack of black and Latino musicians in major orchestras in the United States as well as in other venues for classical music. Similarly, many American high school performing ensembles reflect the same underrepresentation. This article examines the literature on race, socioeconomic factors, and urban teaching and provides suggestions for active intervention on the part of music teachers.
Music educators tend to connect the term diversity with different kinds of music, as in programming a concert to include a variety of genres or teaching music from a global perspective. Rarely does the conversation branch into issues of diversity among musicians themselves, particularly in the American classical orchestra. Yet this kind of diversity can add a rich perspective to the way we think about music in much the same way that diversity in music broadens our musical vision.
Unfortunately, some of us are so used to seeing the classical string ensemble through a white lens that we may fail to notice the missing faces of black or Latino musicians. 1 Correspondence with personnel managers of the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra reveals that less than 2 percent of their orchestral musicians are black or Latino. 2 Although one might find a very different level of representation in jazz or ethnic ensembles, black and Latino musicians are seriously underrepresented in many professional orchestras in the United States.
There are few blacks and Latinos in American orchestras at any level, from high school ensembles to professional symphonies. What can we do to increase this number?
Historically, however, there are a number of high-caliber American ensembles and music programs that have championed musicians of color at both the preprofessional and professional levels (see the “Performance Groups Featuring Black and Latino Composers and Musicians” sidebar). For example, the Sphinx Organization, a multitiered program to advance the music education of young black and Latino musicians, states, “We envision a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth.” 3 The Sphinx Organization is not the only organization to advocate for black and Latino classical musicians. Other black and/or Latino ensembles, such as the Imani Winds or the Ritz Chamber Players Society, perform music of black and Latino composers as well as classics from the Western tradition to diverse audiences. Some, like the Marian Anderson String Quartet, also work with public schools.
Performance Groups Featuring Black and Latino Composers and Musicians
A sample of classical performance groups and organizations devoted to black and Latino musicians and composers. You can access the complete listing at http://astro.temple.edu/~rgreene/BlackComp/9_philadelphiamusic.htm.
Performance Ensembles
Chicago Sinfonietta
Harlem Symphony Orchestra
Imani Winds
Marian Anderson String Quartet
Opera North
Ritz Chamber Players Society
Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra
The Young Eight
Special-Interest Organizations
Coalition of African Americans in the Performing Arts
Coalition of Harpists of African Descent
Gateways Music Festival
Sphinx Organization
The founding of these programs is both remarkable and curious. It is remarkable in its educational scope and advocacy of black and Latino classical musicians and compositions. It is curious, however, in this nation of opportunity, that we need special music organizations for classically trained musicians of color. How can this be in our rapidly diversifying America? Somewhere along the way we are losing or have left untapped some of our most talented musicians of color. It makes sense, then, to examine public school ensembles for similar trends of underrepresentation.
Investigators Kenneth Elpus and Carlos R. Abril recently published a national demographic profile of high school students who participated in large ensembles, including choir, orchestra, and band, finding that Hispanic students were severely underrepresented in school music ensembles. 4 They also found that the majority of all students who participated in music ensembles attended suburban schools (51 percent), with urban schools (27.6 percent) and rural schools (21.3 percent) trailing behind. In an investigation of the number of school orchestra programs in American public schools, researcher Camille M. Smith found comparable ratios. 5 This suggests that the fewest number of students served in music ensembles reside in city and rural settings.
At the very least, these imbalances should serve as a catalyst for examining who has access to performance-based school ensembles and who does not. Unequal access to educational opportunities is an issue of social justice, a term we use to recognize and correct inequities in our society. From a schooling perspective, issues of social justice are particularly evident when some students are advantaged over others. The intent of this article, then, is to examine some of the challenges facing schools and teachers with respect to racial or ethnic imbalances. While race is not necessarily tied to a specific setting (urban, for example) or socioeconomic level, these variables often intersect in discussions oriented toward social justice.
Challenges Facing Urban Schools
The discrepancies regarding the quality of education for suburban students vs. urban students have garnered significant attention in the media and academic publications. 6 Journalists such as Jonathan Kozol have published searing accounts of the large gap between the resources and financial allocations per child in urban schools as compared with the greater resources and financial allocations per child in the more affluent neighboring schools. 7 Although lack of resources indicates part of this complex problem, there is something greater at stake: if educational quality is pivotal in creating an educated society, then inequality among the schools marginalize those who are most needy in society. In terms of social justice, this has an effect on not only the individual citizen but also the foundation on which our democracy rests.
One of the primary points of reference, when comparing urban with suburban schools, is socioeconomic status (SES). The city and certain rural areas, more so than the suburbs, reflect high rates of poverty. In fact, the probability of poverty in schools with high concentrations of black and Latino students is almost six times as high when compared to schools with a high percentages of white students. 8 Clearly, this has an impact on the budgets under which schools operate.
Because urban schools depend heavily on federal and state support, delays in legislative action have a ripple effect, making it less possible for urban schools to plan for the following year’s school budget. 9 Not knowing whether the district can continue, for instance, the string program or provide necessary resources to build a comprehensive music program, reflects the constant uncertainty that urban music teachers face.
Some research in music education has shown that SES has a significant impact on the number of students who participate in public school ensembles. 10 Researchers Eugenia Costa-Giomi and Elizabeth Chappell, in a study of urban band programs, found that even within the same district, schools with a large proportion of disadvantaged students had fewer financial resources and less adequate facilities than did those with higher proportions of advantaged students. 11
Along with a smaller and more precarious budget, family mobility has an impact on the continuity of instruction. Whereas some students move out of the district, others are gone for extended periods of time and then return to find that they are behind in skills and conceptual knowledge. For the instrumental music teacher who has struggled to recruit particular instruments for the ensemble, the loss of a key clarinet player or the only viola player has a devastating impact on programming for a concert or the performance itself.
Program continuity may also suffer from turnover of teachers, some leaving the profession and some transferring to suburban schools. 12 “The phenomenon of teacher flight from high-poverty schools undermines every other reform effort.” 13 In addition, it leaves some of the youngest and most inexperienced teachers to carry on.
Urban teachers face uncertainty on a daily basis. Classes might be cancelled or rescheduled without warning, teachers may need to take over for another colleague who is absent, or parents might keep a student home to babysit a sibling when child care falls through. Since a concert is often the way that administrators and parents measure the value of the music program, inconsistent rehearsal patterns place the music teacher in an unfair situation that is not of their making. Clearly, “music teaching and music program administration in an urban setting are not for the faint at heart.” 14
In a democracy where school is compulsory, we would expect the public schools to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Unfortunately, in today’s economic climate, almost all school music programs have suffered from cutbacks in resources and personnel. Yet, even as music resources are shrinking in suburban schools, the resources in many urban schools have been and remain painfully inadequate.
Extracurricular Music Activities
For professional musicians, experiences outside the school are just as important as what goes on in the music classroom. Successful orchestral musicians, for instance, “grew up” in youth orchestras, played in public recitals, and often attended special music camps. Middle- and upper-class parents can afford private lessons and the fees associated with extracurricular music activities. In a metropolitan area, private lessons can run $50 or more per hour, not including the cost of music, purchase or rental of an instrument, and technical repairs. Fifty dollars constitutes approximately one-fifth of a weekly salary at minimum wage. 15 It is unlikely that the disadvantaged can supplement what the school cannot provide.
When Costa-Giomi and Chappell compared characteristics of band programs in schools with differing SES, they noted differences in the number of students taking private lessons, involvement of parents in booster clubs, fund-raising opportunities, and availability of financial aid for students. 16 They state that “The critical question that needs to be asked is not whether students have equal access to music education programs, but whether they have equal access to equally good programs.” 17
From the perspective of resources and instruction, it does not take much to see the alarming inequities in music programs (discounting urban schools designated as arts magnet schools or special grant-funded programs). In short, poor black or Latino children do not stand much of a chance when it comes to the experiences needed for a college music program or professional career in music. Without continuity in music instruction, money for private lessons, or instrument rental and other resources, students can hardly develop a competitive level of performance skills that lead to participation in music camps, community orchestras, or college music programs.
What if SES Is Only Part of the Picture?
What about students of color who have access to music but choose not to participate? Although few have investigated this issue from the students’ perspective, Margaret Schmidt, an associate professor of music education at Arizona State University, Tempe, interviewed secondary school students from two ethnically diverse string programs to investigate reasons for low enrollment of nonwhite students. 18 A number of students talked about how peers outside the string program classified string students as “nerds,” a term that bothered some but not others. One student responded, “When you went to orchestra, there was pretty much only white kids in there.” 19 Schmidt also found that the students tended to gravitate toward ensembles where they liked the teacher. She states that “Although students’ racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds were only some of the factors that influenced their decision to learn a string instrument, the teachers’ understandings of these factors certainly affected students’ success in orchestra.” 20
Psychosocial issues, such as friendships and emotional ups and downs of adolescent development, also play a role in the activities in which students participate. 21 Because many describe music ensembles in terms of “a family,” music educators might gain some insight from literature in sociology and psychology. For instance, identity construction for students of color is a journey toward selfhood that goes beyond questions of “Who am I?” to “Who am I as a black or Latino person?” and “How is my identity connected to my success in school?” 22 Consequently, black and Latino students particularly struggle with issues of cultural identity. 23
Part of knowing the student is an understanding of what nonmusical stressors affect student choices and behavior. As with Schmidt’s research, this raises the question of whether students perceive the orchestra as a Eurocentric ensemble in terms of the music literature performed and the musicians that look (or do not look) like them. Certainly these issues would have an influence on the choices that black and Latino musicians perceive as relevant to their lives.
One area that has attracted attention is the importance of mentors that reflect the same race as students of color. Marona Graham-Bailey, a young African American teacher, responds, “Even before I enrolled in my teacher education program, I was aware of the lack of teachers of color in a largely white and female teaching force. . . . I knew how empowering it felt to have a teacher who looked like me, standing in front of the class.” 24
Although the music education literature is scanty in this area, the need for same-race role models appears in a few studies. 25 Researchers Donald L. Hamann and Linda Miller Walker found that same-race and same-gender teachers, in both music and nonmusic disciplines, had a strong influence on African American students. 26 It would be an absurd leap, however, to assume that only black teachers can teach black students or a similar comparison with Latino teachers. What students of color especially need most are competent music teachers who show culturally responsiveness to the difficulties they face. 27
White teachers are often surprised to learn that students of color might associate a musical career with skin color. For example, one of my African American students at the university confided that she never thought about music teaching as a career because until high school, she had never experienced any music teachers of color. Although exceptionally bright and talented, she never realized that teaching music as a career was a possibility for her. She has since gone on to become one of the strongest music educators from our program.
A Call for Action
Teaching for social justice involves awareness of inequities and the courage to face situations or schooling practices that deny children access to music. According to music and fine arts specialist June Hinckley, “we who are concerned for and committed to the children in these schools must look beyond the problems to determine what is ‘right.’” 28 My point is not that students should pursue a professional career in classical music, but that talented young musicians of any race or socioeconomic status have equal opportunities to make that choice.
With exception of Schmidt’s research, the fact is we do not really have much evidence about why so many students of color are absent from classical music ensembles. Are we losing students by not appealing to their cultural heritage or offering opportunities that poor students cannot afford? We can only speculate, given the small research base that we have at hand. Although we may be asking the right questions, perhaps we are not asking the right people.
Consequently, conference sessions and symposia that bring teachers of color together with white teachers can, if handled with care, begin important conversations that involve a balanced range of perspectives. In the book Can We Talk about Race? Tatum wonders if “we can get beyond our fear, our sweaty palms, our anxiety about saying the wrong thing, or using the wrong words, and have an honest conversation about racial issues?” 29
Essentially, music teachers must know more about the special needs of black and Latino students. Although these needs may seem more pressing in the urban setting, there are many students of color in our suburban schools who also benefit from culturally responsive teaching and special encouragement to advance their musical studies. As a profession, it is important that we not insulate ourselves from authors outside the discipline who have written extensively about teaching students of color. Some of these authors include Lisa Delpit, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Beverly Tatum, and Joe Kincheloe (see the “Books Addressing Race and Urban Schools/Children” sidebar). These authors are but a few of the experts in the field who might also serve as exciting keynote speakers or invited authors.
What Can Individual Teachers Do?
Not all teachers have an opportunity to teach in schools where there is racial diversity. Given the increasing numbers of nonwhite students in classrooms throughout the United States, however, teachers will have more opportunities to teach in diverse classrooms. Research suggests that individual teachers who take time to get to know their students and create an inviting place for making music are likely to appeal to students of color who may be reluctant to participate in ensembles. In addition, it is important that music teachers identify students with strong dispositions for teaching. This can have a sizeable impact on students of color who never thought of themselves as potential educators.
Shields has examined mentoring as intervention for at-risk urban adolescents. 30 Some of the ways that the music teacher responded to students included extra music lessons, sharing the student’s favorite music, providing help and encouragement with solos, and responding with care and empathy to student problems. Helping students feel capable as young musicians not only builds a bond between teacher and students but also communicates messages that students of color need so badly to hear: “You can do this,” “Your work is special to me,” or “You show some real leadership skills through your music.”
In another study, researcher Daniel J. Albert examined strategies for recruiting and retaining band students in low-SES school districts. 31 Findings indicate that successful band directors had a variety of strategies to recruit and retain students. For example, one successful band director provided culturally relevant ensembles, such as a marching band in the tradition of the African American Southern colleges, in addition to more traditional ensembles. Parents or caregivers can also play an important role in supporting an ensemble program. Those who take turns in shuttling their children to rehearsals or participate in fund-raising activities help to not only create a sense of family but also show interest and support for their child’s involvement in music. Newsletters, websites, and e-mail and paper mail keep parents informed and maintain open lines of communication.
Books Addressing Race and Urban Schools/Children
Selected books written outside the music education discipline whose authors address issues of race, urban schools, and urban children:
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.
Alonso, Gaston, Noel S. Anderson, Celina Su, and Jeanne Theoharris. Our Schools Suck: Students Talk Back to a Segregated Nation on the Failures of Urban Education. New York: New York University Press, 2009.
Delpit, Lisa. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: New Press, 2006.
Flores-González, Nilda. School Kids/Street Kids: Identity Development in Latino Students. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002.
Kozol, Jonathan. The Shame of the Nation: Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005.
Kincheloe, Joe L., and Kecia Hayes, eds. Teaching City Kids: Understanding and Appreciating Them. New York: Peter Lang, 2007.
Daniel Tatum, Beverly. Can We Talk about Race? Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
DeLorenzo, Lisa C. Sketches in Democracy: Notes from an Urban Classroom. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.
*Frierson-Campbell, Carol, Willie L. Hill Jr., Daniel Abrahams, and Frank Abrahams. Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom: A Guide to Success, Survival, and Reform, vol. 1. Lanham, MD: MENC/Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006.
*Frierson-Campbell, Caro,l ed. Teaching Music in the Urban Classroom: A Guide to Leadership, Teacher Education, and Reform, vol. 2. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, published in partnership with National Association for Music Education, 2006.
*Although these books are published within the discipline of music education, they are excellent resources for the music educator and should not be overlooked.
It is essential that students see musicians of color in performance (and teaching) situations. Teachers can make sure that students have experiences with black and Latino classical performers via media, such as YouTube; invited guests to the music class; or recordings, such as CDs, that feature artists of color. These experiences benefit all students.
Elementary general music teachers are in a prime position to encourage black and Latino students develop confidence in their musical abilities. General music teachers see all the students in the school and can identify students who might solo in a concert or have success with an instrument. They can also help guide parents toward free or low-cost community music activities. A news bulletin or special session during parents’ night can inform caregivers about childhood musical development, low-cost music organizations for children, and advance notice about free music events for families. Sometimes the Parent-Teacher Association or service organizations will subsidize instruments for the school or music CDs for listening with headphones in the library.
Music Opportunities beyond the Classroom
Beyond the school, extracurricular music activities play a large role in the advancement of talented student musicians. Regional or state orchestras, special youth ensembles, or local music organizations offer music activities that are important to talented young musicians. With this in mind, it may be beneficial to examine the diversity of participants in regional and all-state ensembles. Does the ensemble reflect a population that is representative of the area schools? If not, what are some possible reasons for this imbalance?
Auditions and rehearsals, for example, require as much a commitment on the parent’s part as the student. Families in which caregivers work two or more jobs or rely primarily on bus transportation may find it difficult if not impossible to follow through with the expectations of a regional ensemble. Extra fees may also pose a problem for poor families. Fortunately, many state music education organizations already provide scholarship help or fee waivers. In terms of performance clothes, perhaps state associations could earmark a small fund for needy students. It may also be possible to fund a van or bus to transport students to and from the audition.
There are no simplistic solutions for the logistical difficulties that poor students face in music participation beyond the school. Clearly, establishing equity in music events beyond the school requires creative thinking and scholarship assistance. For adults who have decision-making responsibilities that affect music education (e.g., teachers, arts supervisors, state music education board members), a conscious awareness of these issues is the first step toward making a change.
Preparing Teachers
The recruitment of black and Latino students for college music education programs deserves considerable attention. 32 Music researcher Martin J. Bergee calls for “intensive recruitment into music teaching ethnic minorities and members of historically underrepresented group” 33 The rewards for increasing diversity among our school faculties not only result in a greater pool of nonwhite teachers as mentors for both students of color and white students but also bring an essential voice to the profession as a whole.
For preservice teachers unschooled in ways of thinking about how one’s cultural context shapes the way students think and construct their identity, discussions of race and ethnicity can seem secondary or unimportant in the larger scheme of teaching music. Yet, avoiding conversations about race or the special skills that one needs to teach in an urban school allows preservice teachers to persist in seeing teaching through their own cultural lens. From this perspective, they may unknowingly construct a mindset that homogenizes the experiences and learning needs of their students.
Exploring racial and ethnic imbalances in the face of a primarily white teaching force is problematic for authentic teacher preparation. When teacher-educators and preservice teachers have fooled themselves into believing that “kids are kids” or “I don’t see color,” they have a huge chasm to traverse to truly understand each child for who he or she is. To ignore color is to ignore identity. Ignoring identity is tantamount to rendering a child invisible. 34
It is not unusual to find that many white teachers have not been prepared for teaching in an urban setting or working with students of color. 35 Along with this, teacher education courses are often taught by white professors who generally present activities and skills suited for suburban settings. 36 Subsequently, there is a tendency to teach through white discourse and to use suburban schools for field experiences. 37 Instead of learning the language of culturally responsive teaching, then, preservice teachers often reaffirm naive beliefs about teaching all children the same way or, even worse, having different standards for students of color.
For this reason, music teacher educators would contribute to beginning teachers’ development by facilitating discussions and readings that generate questions about teaching students of color and urban teaching in general. These are prime teachable moments to explore what it means to be a teacher of color in a mostly white classroom or a white teacher in a classroom that includes many or a majority of nonwhite students. In terms of the urban setting, preservice teachers need to have urban field experience cojoined with campus seminars that encourage college students to think critically and reflectively about their experiences. As more research is beginning to show, urban teaching is a unique context that requires special skills and understandings. 38
Social Justice: Part of Our Job
This article began with the idea that black and Latino musicians are underrepresented in our premiere orchestras. The observation serves merely as a springboard for recognizing and raising questions about how we approach music education for black and Latino youth. Students of color deserve the same music opportunities as others in spite of the many issues that plague urban schools. Teachers, arts supervisors, and teacher educators also need to recognize that recruitment of black and Latino preservice teachers for the public schools is critical in providing role models for students and music teachers who work with students of color.
While we can describe the conditions that advantage some students over others, we still need more firsthand accounts as to why black and Latino musicians are underrepresented, particularly in secondary music ensembles. Until the profession initiates conversations with black and Latino musicians, music educators, and youth, music educators will continue to have incomplete information.
As citizens of a democratic nation, teachers may assume that all children have equal access to the arts, but in fact, America is not a nation of equal opportunity for all people. The music field is no exception, especially in the area of arts music. Although a single music teacher can help counterbalance some of the barriers that face disadvantaged children, it takes a group effort to substantively reform the way we educate and recruit students of color into the profession. Perhaps it is time to approach music teaching with a larger purpose in mind: that social justice as much a part of our job as teaching music itself.