Raven Blaylock

things. The possibilities are essentially endless when choosing what is known as a "chord progression" in music. This premise is why it is beneficial to understand the formula of certain Latin American styles, whereas some do not use harmony at all. "Suite Suramericana," being that it is a suite, consists of what is known as several "movements" in music. A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. Each movement represents a specific region within Latin America. Here is an in-depth look into the Suite and its movements — I. Overture: The introduction to an idea within a musical suite. This part of the Suite gives a general outlook on how the overall piece feels musically. II. En Los Llanos: Los Llanos translates to 'The Plains.' This part of the Suite explores regions of Latin America like Western Venezuela and NorthEastern Colombia. III. En Las Montañas: The Andes played a significant role in creating simple melodies and flutes. The Andes culture can be traced back to Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and all other parts of Latin America with Mountains and grasslands. Las Montañas translates to, 'The Mountains.' IV. En la Selva: 'En La Selva' roughly translates to 'In the Jungle.' Throughout Latin America, there exist many jungles and tropical rainforests. The ambient undertones of tropical weather and vivid nature with plants and animals play a large role in this movement in terms of inspiration. V. En Las Islas: Translating to 'In the Islands,' this movement will explore the more tropical regions of Latin America. Some Islands include the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Trinidad, and Tobago. However, some of the mainland countries contain small islands that have contributed to this Influence of music. VI. En Un Mundo: The final movement recaptures the entire Suite's essence, emphasizing the modern take on how these geographical locations have influenced this modern-day composition. Creating an authentic modern-day composition like "Suite Suramericana," using composition software and creating soundtracks, is crucial to giving this composition the modern flair it yerns upon existing. "Dorico," a musical composition software that has been used to create this piece, "helps you to write music notation, automatically producing printed results of exceptional quality — and plays it back with breathtaking realism. It is easy enough for anyone to learn, yet it has hundreds of advanced notations, features, options, and sounds to satisfy even the most demanding professionals." (Dorico SE, 1) Therefore software like Dorico will play a role in modernizing composing this musical piece, making the workload slightly less strenuous. In conclusion, this piece aims to highlight the cultural variety that Latin American music has to offer. In creating a piece like "Suite Suramericana," it is always important to be aware of the historical context involved in the Latin subgenres. Considering the aspects of music and its study of theoretical concepts, every note put into a composition has thought put into it. "Suite Suramericana" aims to showcase the capabilities of joining academic and artistic ideas while giving the music of Latin America time to shine.

References:

Agawu, Kofi. "The African Imagination in Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press." (2016). Steinberg. "Music Notation Software - Write Scores with Dorico." Steinberg, 2019. https:// new.steinberg.net/dorico/. Scaruffi, Piero. "A Brief Summary of Latin-American Popular Music." A History of Latin- American Popular Music, 2002. https://www.scaruffi.com/history/latin.html. Colón, Dr. Cynthia. "History of Latin Music." The Latino Author, 2019. http:// thelatinoauthor.com/songs/history/. Colón, Dr. Cynthia. "Developing Ideas for Songs." The Latino Author, 2019. http:// thelatinoauthor.com/songs/ideas/. Gomes, Laurentino: “1808” - 2. edição - São Paulo - Editora Planeta do Brasil - 2007.

Racial Discrimination in Music: A Guide to Overcome Trails and Tribulations in the Arts

Raven Blaylock

Mentor: Daniel Pardo, Ph.D. Department of Music and Theatre

Abstract

During the recent events of 2020, the world has been called to consider the many issues that have been covered up overtime. Racism and sexism have been two important issues for the United States. They have been protested and demonstrated against, yet change has not been significant. However, with recent events, such as the murder of George Floyd and many riots that broke out around the country in 2020, people from all types of professions have been forced to take a look at the part that they play in making a change. That includes artists, composers, music professors, music theorists, etc. In our research, the many issues that minority musicians had to endure over the years are highlighted. This includes the strict policy with cabaret cards, lack of diversity on concert programming, record labels using malpractices to trick and trap colored musicians, music theorists using white racial framing, etc. We have contacted many different minority musicians in hopes that they will participate in an extensive interview. During this interview, they discussed the skills and attitudes needed to overcome racial and sexual discrimination in the arts. Musicians such as Jennifer Grim (Professor of flute at the University of Miami and Flutist in the Zephyros Winds), Trudy Kane (Flutist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Adah Jones (principal flutist for the Austin Opera and Professor of Flute at Texas State university), and others, explain the challenges they faced when striving to success. Minority musicians will gain insight into the potential problems they may encounter within the business. Along with those, the reader will have access to the processe’s artists have gone through in order to build successful careers.

Final Report:

Historically, minorities have been fighting inequality for over 200 years. The fight continues as events unfold around the world. These events have exposed the past, present, and future problems that have been hidden for so long. It has brought about social movements such as Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate. Now the question that all minorities have is, “How is this going to affect my life?” As a musician, we are told that “Music is a universal language.” If that holds true, music can deliver hope and compassion to the hearts of many and bring the world together one note at a time. With that being said, what skills should a minority musician possess to surpass these same challenges and express to the people what they truly need to hear? Referring to “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame”, an article published for music theorists, Philip A. Ewell argues that the representation in music theory is a core problem due to the lack of minorities within the profession. The Society of Music Theory (SMT) set a goal in 1996 to diversify their membership due to the total number of minorities involved in the society being less than 2%. However, by 2018, the total number of people of color (POC) had only increased to 2.9%. “Despite good intentions, and whatever intrinsic benefit these initiatives might have had, if their goal was to increase the numbers of POC in SMT, they have clearly failed.” (Ewell, 2019) It is statistically proven that people are more likely to do activities when they see others who look like them involved. This means that SMT would have had to publicly create an environment where all races can be seen coming together for one common goal. It’s this lack of representation that causes minorities to have a disconnect with the subject and makes the career path seem unachievable.

Representation for minority groups within the music career has been neglected for a long time. When researching for this project, I found that I could barely get minority music professors to interview. I found even fewer minority conductors and professional musicians in orchestras and chamber groups. This is not to say that they don’t exist. This is merely to mention that they are not represented to the same extent that other ethnic groups are. When people envision classical music, they envision composers like Mozart, Haydn, Bach, or Beethoven. And in the modern performance hall, most programs consist mainly of those composers. Organizations usually only receive small rewards when programs are more diverse. Then it is blamed on lack of rehearsal or unclear composer instructions. This is why minority conductors fear playing pieces by minority composers. They risk being labeled as “racial” or second-rate in the eyes of their contemporaries. “Simply put, lack of diversity on concert programs is built into the institutional structure of American classical music organizations, leading to systemic discrimination against women, people of color, and other historically underrepresented musicians.” (Shadle, 2018) For those unaware, systemic discrimination, which can also be referred to as institutionalized discrimination, is a method used by organizations and companies to create a disadvantage for people of a certain race, sex, or disability. These disadvantages are usually subtle and occur for long periods of time, which makes it easier to reject individual responsibility and almost deniable. An example of institutionalized discrimination within the United States would be the use of Cabaret cards. New York used cabaret cards to control who performed and who did not. Musicians were required to have cabaret cards if they wanted to play

at any establishments that served alcohol. This was just about every nightclub or lounge in New York. Cabaret cards were issued to musicians in the 1940’s by the State and were required from that point to 1967. Most famous jazz musicians’ cards were revoked eventually for a variety of different reasons. Musicians like Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and many more were not able to perform in the State of New York because of this law. This resulted in having to perform in states away from their families and falling into a deep depression. One saxophonist, Charlie Parker, had his card revoked on a drug charge in 1951. He was then left without work for more than a year. The only way to regain possession of these cards was to go through a lengthy process that took many months. In an attempt to systematically keep Black performers oppressed, New York also created a 3 AM curfew and forbade dancing in clubs that did not have a special cabaret license. Police were then given control over licensing authority, and they required everyone who wanted to work in nightclubs to carry a personal cabaret card. If the musician had any prior charges, their application for a card was almost always denied. Another musician whose card was revoked was Billie Holiday. She had performed at many clubs, and after the release of her song about the lynching of African Americans, “Strange Fruit”, the police were said to have been looking for any reason to revoke her cabaret card. After serving a year in jail, the police still refused to give Holiday her card back. She didn’t perform in New York for over a decade. Some of these musicians were forced to perform under different names so that they could make a livelihood. Starting in 1960, musicians began to protest these cards after the death of comedian Richard Buckley, whose card was revoked and consequently fell into a deep depression causing him to take his own life. Frank Sinatra refused to apply for the card as a part of this protest and was still allowed to perform at a popular club in the state. This resulted in a police investigation where they discovered over 100 cabaret card violators. Yet even after this train of events, Robert Wagner concluded that there was no evidence of corrupt dealings, and the cabaret card law remained in effect for six more years.

There were some record labels that also had a part of the issue when it came to systemic discrimination. There are many different record labels all around the states. These labels specialize in many different music genres and styles. However, black executives remain concentrated on the “urban” areas of music, which focus mainly on R&B and hip-hop. Meanwhile, white executives are able to move between whichever genres produce the most for them in that moment. There are music unions built for collective action, none of which are geared towards inherent racial inequities in the business. No one fights for minority musicians out of fear of ruining their reputation. There’s only so much that can be done due to most major labels being run by the same white executives. Aside from predatory executives and agents, breaking into show business often involves "signing one's life away" through unethical contract agreements. It's common for musicians to sign an unrealistic first contract. Unknown musicians will inadvertently sign one-sided contracts in the hopes of achieving success. The first contract is the foundation for all future contract negotiations. Many labels started a practice that induced or enhanced musicians’ drug use in order to further exploit them and trap them into signing these adhesion contracts. These can be thought of as “take it or leave it” contracts and ultimately gives one party more power over the terms than the other. According to a survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, more than half of Americans believe blacks are less intelligent than whites. More than 62% of people believe that black people are lazier than white people. Furthermore, 78% of those polled claimed that black people chose to live on welfare. When minority musicians hire personal agents or managers, they are less likely to get a reasonable deal if the agent is white and thinks the black artist is less intelligent. The music they were allowed to perform evolved from dancing music to listening music due to increasing tensions within integrated clubs. The public feared the crowds getting too rowdy and dancing over the gender line, specifically black men and white women. Post 1945, some musicians tried to make their own record label to avoid the malpractices. Unfortunately, they faced contradictions which stopped them from succeeding. Not to mention, they had unprincipled competitors who were not above trying to invoke the power of state to drive them out. Going back to Music Theories White Racial Frame, white classical musicians struggle to break away from the Eurocentric power structures in music. Therefore, they fail to realize that classical music is culturally specific. We should also be careful not to get cultural inspiration confused with cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation can be defined as the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of other and typically more dominant people or society. Alfredo Casella, an Italian composer, was inspired by venetian gondoliers when he composed his barcaroles. That is an example of cultural inspiration. In 2019, Carolyn Shaw and Roomful of Teeth won a Pulitzer for their piece Partita for 8 Voices. However, this piece features Inuit throat singing, which Shaw did not mention until the group came under scrutiny for it that same year. That is an example of cultural appropriation. This is not to

say that classical music shouldn’t be inspired by other forms of art, but to note that the inspiration should be acknowledged and accredited to those deserving of it. Many composers and performers find themselves in settings where they question their talent and the credibility of their own skills. Cultural appropriation and lack of representation are a major cause of the phenomenon known as Imposter Syndrome. Impostor syndrome (IS) refers to a psychological condition of feeling that you are not as capable as others consider you to be. Although this concept is typically loosely linked to ability and success, it has ties to perfectionism and the social context. As a minority musician, having the same abilities as another performer still doesn’t feel like quite enough in order to achieve the same result. It is hard for minorities to believe that they actually deserve something if there are organizations such as SMT, whose aim is to increase the diversity within the society. Simply put, these theorists don’t know if their work is truly deserving or if they were simply put there as a means to make the society look desirable to the public eye. This same thing can be said for performing, as well as administration work. All of these issues didn’t come at once. These have all been compiled throughout American history. However, minority musicians continue to face the same trials today. This is why I have interviewed various minority performers and composers who have been through many of the same experiences. It is imperative for future generations and current students to see the representation and success that they can achieve one day. Furthermore, it is even more important so that they may know how to get through the inevitable. A student hoping to study music should be prepared for anything that may happen. Each of the participants had much in common. However, the things that helped them succeed most were being better than the majority, having a narrow path for what they want, being curious, and having a network of mentors they can count on whenever they need to. One of the participants, a talented flutist who teaches at a renowned university, believes that it is imperative for the students to be prepared more than anything. When she was starting out her music career, she received many rejections from most auditions she did and even started working at a coffee shop to make ends meet. Though at the time, she stated that she was not one of the best players, but her ability to be prepared is what helped her obtain an opportunity to study where she did not think she would get in. The studio had few spots left, and her chances were slim. However, she prepared as best she could, and they saw a potential in her that earned her the spot in the studio. Along with two other participants, they also urge students to use their rejections as inspirations. One of the participants had dreamt of being a part of one of the most popular philharmonics. She was rejected by the organization two times before being selected on her third attempt. Bibliography Agbai, Bailey. 2020. Institutionalized racism in the music industry. June 25. Accessed January 16, 2021. Brodeur, Michael Andor. 2020. The Washington Post. July 16. Accessed January 16, 2021. Davis, Brent Michael. 2019. CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN CLASSICAL MUSIC? November 21. Dozier, Eric. 2017. How the Power of Music Heals Racism. Performed by Eric Dozier. Bahaiteachings. February 27. Ewell, P. A. (2019). Music Theory and the White Racial Frame. Music Theory Online Greiving, Tim. 2019. Few black conductors lead orchestras. For Anthony Parnther, it’s time to represent. September 11. Accessed December 23, 2020. Harpaz, Beth. 2020. A Black Professor Pulls Back the Curtain on Racism in Music Theory. Hunter College, The Graduate Center, August 18. Horne, G. (2020). Jazz and Social Justice with Gerald Horne. (B. Johnson, Interviewer). Laws, Hubert, interview by Dr. David Shroeder. 2016. Conversations with Hubert Laws (December 3). Laws, Hubert, interview by National Endowment for the Arts. 2011. NEA Jazz Masters: Tribute to Hubert Laws (January 11). Leight, Elias. 2020. The Music Industry Was Built on Racism. Changing It Will Take More Than Donations. June 5. Accessed January 6, 2021. Mancini, John. 2017. The Young Conductor Paving the Way for Black Musicians in Orchestra. August 1. Accessed December 23, 2020.