Curving the Canon has been an idea of mine for the last two years, and has been a work in the making over the course of the last month. The idea of the show was prompted by WKMS Director Chad Lampe with an inquiry to produce new, local programming content. Being a conductor, I spend a lot of time with repertoire and programming and I had been thinking about the possibility of an investigation on trends and changes in classical music programing.
The premise of the show is this: Curving the canon: Shaping the future repertoire of the wind ensemble through performances of music by female and underrepresented composers. I interviewed twenty of my colleagues from across the country, all in various stages of their career, to see what they had to say on this topic. As a guide, I used the questions below, but many of our conversations went into tangents specific to each of their expertise. I'm grateful to all of them for their time and I hope this show gains traction in our community, and beyond. You can see a full list of interviewees' below.
Prompt Questions:
Contributors
Episode 1 - Dr. Caroline Hand, Ball State University & Dr. Jason Nam, Indiana University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
The premise of the show is this: Curving the canon: Shaping the future repertoire of the wind ensemble through performances of music by female and underrepresented composers. I interviewed twenty of my colleagues from across the country, all in various stages of their career, to see what they had to say on this topic. As a guide, I used the questions below, but many of our conversations went into tangents specific to each of their expertise. I'm grateful to all of them for their time and I hope this show gains traction in our community, and beyond. You can see a full list of interviewees' below.
Prompt Questions:
- Do you think that band conductors from the early 20th century would recognize our ensembles today? Is that good or bad?
- How important is selecting meaningful repertoire?
- How do you approach programing and conducting music outside the "canon?"
- Have you performed any music by female composers? What pieces do you like?
- What is your impression of students in your ensemble and their performance of this non-canonic repertoire? Do they see it as innovative or something else?
- Do you have any female or minority composers in mind that more people should be aware of? Or conductors? Or soloists?
- How do we work to shift the canon towards repertoire that looks more diverse than it currently does, without denying the performance of masterworks?
- What do you imagine our profession looks like in twenty years?
- What type of projects do you know of or are you working on to help remedy this problem?
Contributors
Episode 1 - Dr. Caroline Hand, Ball State University & Dr. Jason Nam, Indiana University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
Interview Transcripts
Episode 1 - Dr. Caroline Hand, Ball State University & Dr. Jason Nam, Indiana University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
Interview Audio File
Episode 1 - Dr. Caroline Hand, Ball State University & Dr. Jason Nam, Indiana University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
YouTube Playlists by Interview
Episode 1 - Dr. Caroline Hand, Ball State University & Dr. Jason Nam, Indiana University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University
Episode 2 - Dr. Danielle Gaudry, Cal State University East Bay & Dr. Lauren Reynolds, University of Delaware
Episode 3 - Dr. Trish Cornett, Temple University & Dr. Alicia Neal, Eastern Illinois University
Episode 4 - Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, University of Georgia & Dr. Courtney Synder, University of Michigan
Episode 5 - Dr. Andrea Brown, University of Maryland & Dr. Amy Knopps, University of Missouri
Episode 6 - Ms. Tiffany Galus, University of Texas & Dr. Brett Richardson, University of the Incarnate Word
Episode 7 - Dr. Brandon Houghtalen, Abilene Christian University & Professor Eric Rombach Kendall, University of New Mexico
Episode 8 - Dr. Joe Higgins, Rowan University & Dr. Erik Leung, Fresno Pacific University
Episode 9 - Dr. Betsy McCann, University of Minnesota & Dr. Melanie Brooks, Winona State University