ERIC Number: EJ1167627
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1461-3808
EISSN: N/A
Interrupting the Symphony: Unpacking the Importance Placed on Classical Concert Experiences
Hess, Juliet
Music Education Research, v20 n1 p11-21 2018
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents a series of youth concerts each year to introduce and attract younger audiences to the symphony. Music teachers often attend these concerts with students, and the importance of such experiences is frequently emphasised and normalised. This article explores the historical roots of the following relations, attitudes, and practices: (1) the tendency of teachers to privilege Western European music in the curriculum; (2) the attitude that classical music is somehow "good for" students; (3) the race relations that operate within a youth symphony concert; and (4) the normalisation of Western classical music in music programmes and concert-going choices. Drawing on Asante's [1991. "The Afrocentric Idea in Education." "The Journal of Negro Education" 60 (2): 170-180] concept of Afrocentric education, I look to pedagogical choices made by participants of a multiple case study in Toronto, Canada to make implications for how music educators might (1) select a wide range of music that include, but are not limited to, classical music; (2) situate such experiences within a broader global, sociopolitical context; (3) consider these Western classical concert experiences as one musical possibility of many; and (4) unsettle the power hierarchies embedded in classroom musical choices.
Descriptors: Musical Instruments, Music Education, Music Teachers, Social Bias, Curriculum, Classical Music, Racial Factors, Blacks, Afrocentrism, Case Studies, Cultural Differences, Global Approach, Power Structure, Social Justice, Foreign Countries, Observation, Interviews, Elementary Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada (Toronto)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A