Spring Lake Park High School junior Kia Muleta
has been playing the clarinet since fifth grade. Kia wants more
diversity in her band music. She is often the only black student in
band, where most of the music was composed by white men.
Evan Frost
/ MPR News
Ayatey Shabazz
Twitter.com
February 18, 2017
There's a bulletin board at the front of the band room at Spring Lake
Park High covered in portraits of the composers who wrote this year's
music selection.
The bulletin board isn't new, it's there every year. What's new are the faces: Instead of primarily white men, there are faces of women and composers of color.
"We made a commitment this year to only buy music from composers of color," says Brian Lukkasson, one of the directors.
He says it's been hard, but not because those composers aren't writing for band. They are.
"It's really hard to find music because there's just not a lot of composers of color that are being published," Lukkasson explains.
***
This year they're playing "Of Honor and Valor Eternal," a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American military pilots. It's by Ayatey Shabazz, a black composer from Mississippi. Shabazz says his grandfather knew one of the airmen, and stories he heard as a child inspired the composition.
***
The bulletin board isn't new, it's there every year. What's new are the faces: Instead of primarily white men, there are faces of women and composers of color.
This
is intentional. The band directors at Spring Lake, outside of St. Paul,
Minnesota, have pledged to include at least one piece by a female
composer and one by a composer of color in each concert, for each of the
school's bands.
He says it's been hard, but not because those composers aren't writing for band. They are.
"It's really hard to find music because there's just not a lot of composers of color that are being published," Lukkasson explains.
***
This year they're playing "Of Honor and Valor Eternal," a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American military pilots. It's by Ayatey Shabazz, a black composer from Mississippi. Shabazz says his grandfather knew one of the airmen, and stories he heard as a child inspired the composition.
***
Copyright 2017 Minnesota Public Radio. To see more, visit Minnesota Public Radio.
Comment by email:
Thanks for sharing, Bill. That NPR story should be shared widely, and we'll be sharing it with our Sonic Safari for Schools outreach band program at the Ferguson Middle School here in St. Louis. Fredo [Fred Onovwerosuoke]
Comment by email:
Thanks for sharing, Bill. That NPR story should be shared widely, and we'll be sharing it with our Sonic Safari for Schools outreach band program at the Ferguson Middle School here in St. Louis. Fredo [Fred Onovwerosuoke]
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