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Shift in the musical canon

Fall 2020

With the state of the world and surges of COVID-19, many things have been cancelled or changed due to the pandemic. This has greatly affected schools and colleges by forcing students and professors to adapt to a virtual educational environment and a reduced amount of in-person meetings. At the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, the music department not only had to limit the amount of in-person rehearsals and performances, but also used the current changes in the world to take a step away from the “canon” of classical music studies and focus more on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This shift in focus was put into action by offering new classes about race and intersectionality in music theory and musicology; DEI info sessions to foster inclusivity; and creating a requirement to study and perform pieces written by and for BIPOC/underrepresented composers and musicians. While this shift in repertoire is a major step forward in the music community, did it have to take the whole world collapsing in order to make something that has been long overdue possible?

Phase I: Work

Musicians of the Current Generation

Before the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the repertoire studied at both the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (SMTD) and other colleges and conservatories worldwide was written by old, dead, wealthy white men. Many people refer to them as “the Classics” or part of the “canon” of repertoire as their music is the integral part of the music world. Professional symphony orchestras play their music, therefore, auditions for those professional orchestras require their repertoire to be the music that they are playing, further making this repertoire the main focus of music education at the collegiate level-- the majority of music students in a performance degree are here to learn how to be refined musicians and win an orchestral or other performance job. In order to be able to do that, students must study the audition repertoire for professional orchestras closely. It seems as if there is an endless cycle of repertoire; we must audition the music we play, so we must play the music to learn how to audition.

Phase I: Text

What Does This Repertoire Sound Like?

An argument that musicians have when resisting the shift of repertoire to study is that the pieces and excerpts from the canon teach us specific techniques that we need to learn. One reason that specific excerpts of major symphonies are asked in auditions is to check to see if the musician can play both the repertoire and are not lacking in any skills. For example, I will look into the most common orchestral bassoon excerpts that I have studied for years and still have to play every day, and highlight what skill or technique this excerpt is used to test.

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Phase I: Welcome

These excerpts show that the same skills needed for the old repertoire are still being asked and demonstrated in the new repertoire. There are many examples of new pieces that show off the same technique, it just takes time to find, which discourages musicians from doing so.

Phase I: Quote

Audience Perception of New Music

Over the last decade, there has been some moves to change this perpetual cycle of canon repertoire such as dedicating specific concerts to showcase pieces written by women or people of color. At the University of Michigan, in my experience, we had one concert cycle dedicated to underrepresented composers and/or composers that are current students in our composition department. These concerts brought in a large audience, as they were marketed as a showcase to bring competition in the school and offer the students to have their works premiered at Hill Auditorium. Despite these concerts being dedicated to bringing underrepresented composers to light, some argue that having one-off performances like this are only a bandaid for the problem. One of the major points of shifting away from the canon to make pieces written by underrepresented composers more known is to make the new pieces a part of the standard concert repertoire. Dedicating one concert to focus on new music makes the musicians and the audience compartmentalize repertoire. In order to truly give equal weight and importance to new music, it must be treated as importantly as the old repertoire.

In a study conducted by The Audience Agency titled “National Classical Music Audiences An analysis of Audience Finder box office data for classical music events 2014-2016”, a survey showed that the percentage of demographics and attendance for non-classical or non-standard concert programs was significantly different than a standard classical concert. It found that out of their audience attendance at a non-classical concert, only 23% of their regular ticket holders were in the audience. Looking at their number of concerts performed, out of the 6,000 classical, opera, baroque, and other standard repertoire performances, only 39 performances were modern music and had 5,000 attendees out of a total of 503,000. This shows that audiences are less likely to attend concerts that do not feature repertoire from the canon.

Looking at the concert programs and audience analytics from a marketing standpoint, it is clear that making a choice to not perform the standard repertoire from composers from the canon is a big risk to take. In an article written by composer Mohammed Fairouz titled “Women are Great Composers Too, Why Aren’t They Being Heard?”, Fairouz addresses the repertoire and concert programmers. “I understand the reason why Mozart and Beethoven dominate your symphonic cycles. You want to program something great, and something that you know will bring in audiences. And then you program it again, and again, and again.” It makes sense as to why an orchestra would want to continue bringing in audiences with the same repertoire, however, ignoring the rich cultures around them in new music can affect not only the ensemble, but also the music education of young students who look up to the orchestral musicians.

One orchestra that gave great importance to commissioning pieces written by women was the New York Philharmonic with their series Project 19. At the beginning of 2020, the New York Philharmonic introduced Project 19, a multi-seasonal initiative to commission 19 works by 19 female composers to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the 19th amendment, the women’s right to vote. “Through Project 19, the Philharmonic can mark a tectonic shift in American culture by giving women composers a platform and catalyzing representation in classical music and beyond” (President and CEO of the NY Philharmonic, Deborah Borda). Unfortunately, these performances have been put on hold due to COVID-19, but the works commissioned and artist bios of the women featured are broadcasted and will be shared until the orchestra can perform these pieces. Despite the New York Philharmonic’s strong efforts to create a concert series like this, the majority of symphony orchestras do not have the funding to make their own programs like this possible.

Phase I: Work