A new exhibit, "Who Gets to be Heard? Repertoire Diversity in Boston-Area University Ensembles" is now on view at Lilly Music Library (opened April 2024).
This exhibit, curated by Jordan Good, AG24 (Department of Music), grew out of her project with the Graduate Leadership in Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (GLIDE) program. Concert repertoire data (from Spring 2015-2023) was collected for symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, wind ensembles and similar groups at Tufts and other Boston-area universities. These ensembles were selected because of this project’s focus on Western art music, the likelihood that the same type of ensemble would exist at multiple schools, as well as to manage the scope of the project.
The aim of this exhibit is to raise awareness of the problematic nature of the Western art music canon; provide data on the current state of affairs in repertoire selection among a sample of Boston-area university ensembles; and offer suggestions for how to move forward with repertoire selection and interrogate, stretch, and reimagine the existing canon in more equitable ways.