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Representing Classical Music to Children and Young People in the United States: Critical Histories and New Approaches

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Representing Classical Music to Children and Young People in the United States: Critical Histories and New Approaches REPRESENTING CLASSICAL MUSIC TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES: CRITICAL HISTORIES AND NEW APPROACHES Sarah Elizabeth Tomlinson A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2020 Approved by: Chérie Rivers Ndaliko Andrea F. Bohlman Annegret Fauser David Garcia Roe-Min Kok © 2020 Sarah Elizabeth Tomlinson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Sarah Elizabeth Tomlinson: Representing Classical Music to Children and Young People in the United States: Critical Histories and New Approaches (Under the direction of Chérie Rivers Ndaliko) In this dissertation, I analyze the history and current practice of classical music programming for youth audiences in the United States. My examination of influential historical programs, including NBC radio’s 1928–42 Music Appreciation Hour and CBS television’s 1958–72 Young People’s Concerts, as well as contemporary materials including children’s visual media and North Carolina Symphony Education Concerts from 2017–19, show how dominant representations of classical music curated for children systemically erase women and composers- of-color’s contributions and/or do not contextualize their marginalization. I also intervene in how classical music is represented to children and young people. From 2017 to 2019, I conducted participatory research at the Global Scholars Academy (GSA), a K-8 public charter school in Durham, NC, to generate new curricula and materials fostering critical engagement with classical music and music history. Stemming from the participatory research principle of situating community collaborators as co-producers of knowledge, conducting participatory research with children urged me to prioritize children’s perspectives throughout this project. As such, I have examined archival documents written by young people, interviewed young people, and adjusted curricula around GSA students’ concerns. I have also sought to analyze disciplinary divisions and suggest more interdisciplinary collaboration between musicology and music education. The critical tools for making children’s iii introductions to classical music more diverse and critically engaged exist, as shown by established scholarship in these two disciplines. However, musicologists and music education scholars have responded to their frustrations about the Eurocentricity, assumed whiteness, and masculinist values of the classical music canon in contrasting ways. Moreover, community-based projects and resources seeking to address canonic biases have yet to make large impacts on the common practice of how children are first introduced to classical music or be documented in scholarship. I argue that, by asking children and young people how representations of classical music are meaningful to them and by urging interdisciplinary collaboration between musicology and music education and, scholars can reimagine, revise, and represent classical music as inclusive and critically engaged. I evidence this argument through criticism of past and present programs as well as participating in the creation of new approaches. iv For Rita M. Tomlinson v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work involved in this dissertation project took many forms. It took six years in a PhD program, it took partnerships with local community members, it took travel to archives, it took hosting concert performances in gymnasiums, it took coffee shop conversations, and, in its final stage, it took a lot of time sitting by myself and writing. Although I had to spend much of the past year alone to write it all down, collaboration was always at the heart of the work. Because of this, it brings me great joy to acknowledge the many people that contributed to this project, that sustained me throughout this project, and that deserve credit for its completion. This project came to life because of the steadfast guidance and encouragement of my committee. First and foremost, I thank my advisor, Chérie Rivers Ndaliko. In envisioning this project, she pushed me to dream big and imagine scholarship to encompass much more than I ever thought possible. In carrying out this project, she showed up for me and shared the joys of its fulfilling work. In writing down this project, she guided me to see the shape forming from its myriad and shifting pieces and reminded me of where it all began. I also thank my committee members. Andrea Bohlman always asked the question I had not yet thought of and opened my mind to embrace new frames of thinking, both with respect to this dissertation as well as throughout my many years of graduate study. David Garcia urged my curiosities, worked with me through the small details and the big picture, and exemplified how to embody both academic and personal integrity. Annegret Fauser inspired me to enter the discipline of musicology, to engage with its robust scholarship and community of scholars, and to, as she told me during my first year of graduate school, stay true to my heart in navigating the many possibilities of vi academic work. Roe-Min Kok embraced this project with sustaining energy, stood up for me and the interests of my work, created opportunities for which I am eternally grateful, and fostered enriching connections with a network of scholars across institutions and disciplines. Conducting the research for this project was its most joyful and fulfilling form because of the communities with whom I was so fortunate to collaborate. Thank you to the incredible administrators, teachers, and students at the Global Scholars Academy. I am especially grateful to James Johnson, Brittany Curry, and Andrea Carroll for their work to support my most robust period of engagement at GSA. I also thank Eboni Alexander, Amy Noble, Jamie Nobles, John Brown, Katonia Kelly, Linda Cato, Magdalena Pizzaro, Jason Jowers, and Miya Plummer. To Shaquila Rouse, thank you for our teaching partnership and for becoming a wonderful friend. To my students, you brought me laughter, new songs and dances, and memories that I will cherish. Thank you for always giving me second chances, for your ideas and enthusiasm, and for challenging me to make this project worthy of your insights. To all, thank you for welcoming me into your beautiful community and enabling me to make my dissertation work so deeply meaningful. For those who I connected with at the North Carolina Symphony, I am grateful for the sincere interest and investment supplied throughout the years of this project. To Sarah Baron, thank you for engaging with my work from its earliest stage and for giving this project a strong foundation of partnership. Thank you to the teachers and administrators who spoke with me— many of your ideas are at the heart of the findings in this project. To all of the young people who I interviewed after concerts, thank you for your surprising, creative, and compelling ideas. Thank you for sharing them with me and for trusting me. Jason Spencer, you embraced this project at a vii time that my energy was starting to wane, bringing new life to old ideas. I am grateful for all that you offered in supporting this work, including your time, thoughts, advocacy, and collaboration. Many passionate and helpful archivists guided my historical work as I traveled to archives around the country. Thank you to the archivists at the University of North Texas, Emory University, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the New York Public Library. I am especially grateful for the relationships I formed at the Library of Congress. Thank you to the many folks in the Music Division and the Recorded Sound Reference Center who not only shared access to materials, but who also lead me to new findings and curiosities. A special thanks to Mark Horowitz and Chris Hartten for guiding me during my first weeks of archival research, for the milkshakes and the ballads, and for welcoming me back every time with such open arms. Thank you to Todd Harvey and John Fenn from the American Folklife Center and Lee Ann Potter from the Educational Outreach Division for allowing me to see how archives can foster community in exciting and collaborative ways. I was fortunate to have several friends and family members provide their hospitality throughout my research travels. Thank you to Chelsea and Gordon Davidson as well as Tiffany and Andrew Lee for hosting me in your sweet homes and for your generosity. I am so grateful for the opportunities we had to reconnect. To Will Robin, thanks for the best sublet in all of DC. Thank you to Will Gibbons, Gina Bombola, and Jennifer Willis for their hospitality and the delicious meals in Texas. To the Van Burens—Chris, Janice, Jacob, Adam, and especially Robin—thank you for sharing with me your beautiful space, many lovely dinners, and what are now wonderful memories. I am truly grateful for your kindness and for the special time. Thank you to Barbara and Jack Tomlinson for also making my time in Princeton restorative and fulfilling. viii The support of several institutions made it possible for me to conduct my dissertation research. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I thank the Department of Music for the support of the James W. Pruett Summer Research Fellowship in Music at the Library of Congress and the Kenan Graduate Student Activities Fund. Also at UNC, I thank the Graduate Certificate in Participatory Research for the Seed Grant Award and the Center for Public Service for the Community Engagement Fellowship. I am grateful to the UNC Graduate School for the support of the Summer Research Fellowship and the Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship. The American Folklife Center and the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress funded my participation in a week-long work-a-thon on Alan Lomax radio materials, for which I give special thanks to Todd Harvey and Mary Lou Reker.
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