Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Models of the North American university music program emerge from an inherited pedagogical philosophy which emphasizes canonic works, heroized individuals, and hierarchized assessment. These result in a hegemonic system by which valuations of context, history, and meaning are in turn contaminated. Interrogating the university music program’s hierarchical structures—including those which govern ensembles—is a necessary step toward their dismantling. Explicitly anti-colonial strategies might help to change this injustice. Recognizing that vernacular arts’ procedural expectations are at odds with the neoliberal university’s incrementalized metrics of progress and assessment, curricular design might, by “trusting a tradition”— and its indigenous pedagogies—develop a shared, anti-hierarchical terrain. We need an ensemble vision which breaks down dichotomies between “legitimate” versus “illegitimate” instruments, genres, and experiential practices. Enhancing inclusion for previously silenced voices, we would begin by seeking to dismantle canons: not just their specific content, but the very idea that command of a “canon of great works” is itself a necessary ideal. We would instead empower and evaluate artists’ command of processes, and recast our assessment tools to prioritize musicians’ capacity to operate within diverse and shifting situations. We need an aesthetic of skill which seeks a “situational virtuosity,” whose artistry lies, not in technical facility or the chimera of Eurocentric “expression,” but in adaptability, command of technical processes, communicative sensitivity, and a willingness to serve specific situations and communities rather than received canons. Drawing upon existing models in Finland, the UK, Ireland, and Argentina, this essay maps a way forward.