Resources
Artists on a Mission
Music makers we love who are change agents in their fields:
Denise Bird
Denise Bird is a Puerto Rican singer, writer, educator, and strong advocate through commissioning new works by Puerto Rican composers.
Courtney Bryan
Courtney Bryan is a New Orleans native, pianist, and composer whose music connects “the sacred and the secular, Bryan's compositions explore human emotions through sound, confronting the challenge of notating the feeling of improvisation.”
Calypsus Brass
“Founded in 2021, Calypsus Brass is a professional chamber ensemble performing new works, giving masterclasses, and creating high-level professional recordings for composers.”
Castle of Our Skins
“Castle of our Skins is a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music.”
The Chromatic Brass Collective
The Chromatic Brass Collective, founded by Black women, is an organization for brass musicians that celebrates, performs, mentors and educates in an effort to increase the visibility of racially and ethnically underrepresented women and gender non-conforming people throughout the brass world.
Flutronix
Flute duo Flutronix “is Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull, two distinguished performers and composers who are paving the way from their classical roots to the future of music.”
Shaw Pong Liu
Violinist and composer Shaw Pong Liu engages diverse communities through multidisciplinary collaborations, creative music and social dialogue. Her project Code Listen uses collaborative songwriting and performances to support healing and dialogue around violence, racism, and police practices. Her compositions have been commissioned by Silkroad Ensemble for the Freer-Sackler Museum, Anikaya Dance Theatre, A Far Cry, Lorelei Ensemble, and pianist Sarah Bob.
Paula Nava Madrigal
Current director and conductor of Orquestra Northwest, Paula Nava Madrigal has founded multiple organizations and projects that celebrate Latino culture, and provide classical music experiences to promote inclusion and intercultural understanding.
Education & Career Development
Places to go for learning at all levels, networking, job opportunities and more:
American String Teachers Association
Founded in 1946, the American String Teachers Association exists to support string and orchestra teachers and players. Our members range from budding student teachers to artist-status performers. We provide teaching resources, professional education, local and national events, a career center, insurance programs, and access to a vibrant and collaborative strings community.
Carter’s Jazz Clinics
“Carter’s Jazz Clinics provides jazz education clinics, masterclasses, professional development and guest artist appearances throughout the United States, Canada and the South American continent.”
ClassiX Arts
“ClassiX Arts aims to connect the cultural and historical relevance of the African diaspora into classical arts education - from the beginning of instruction.”
Decolonizing the Music Room
Decolonize the Music Room helps music educators “develop critical practices and center BBIA) voices, knowledge, and experiences in order to challenge the historical dominance of white Western European and American music, narratives, and practices.”
International Women’s Brass Conference
The International Women’s Brass Conference strives to “educate, develop, support, and promote women brass musicians while inspiring continued excellence and opportunities in the broader musical world.”
Make Music NOLA
Make Music NOLA provides “access and opportunity for students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch in Orleans Parish through intensive music training.”
MusicAuditions.com
The opportunities on MusicAuditions are all real. They have been vetted. These employers are out there looking for you, just like you're looking for them. Join our free community and receive our weekly updates. Help your friends stay in the know too by sharing and posting to your network. Be the person someone has to thank for letting them know about an audition they got the job for!
NAfME Council for Innovations
“NAfME Council for Innovations seeks to identify, promote, and expand innovative pathways and practices/processes in music education, by transforming both curricula and pedagogy to ensure that all students receive a high quality music education.”
Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP)
“The NACAP is an intensive music composition immersion program in which Native American composers tutor Native students on the Navajo, Hopi, & Salt River Pima-Maricopa Reservations in all aspects of composition from inspiration to notation.”
New Voices New Orleans
New Voices New Orleans (NVNO) engages singers throughout the city’s public charter schools in dynamic performances that unlock creativity, embolden self-expression, and empower civic voice. Our unique approach to vocal music education prioritizes movement training and storytelling to develop singers’ literacy in music and command in performance. Through rehearsals, discussions, art-making, performances, and events, singers become members of intentional community and culture-bearers for the city of New Orleans.
Sankofa Songs
“Our mission is to cultivate exceptional Africentric arts education practice. We accomplish our mandate by nurturing community among aspiring and experienced Africentric arts educators, providing professional development, producing events, spearheading research, and developing pedagogical tools that support K-12 arts educators and their instruction.”
Save the Music Foundation
As a leading music foundation in the United States, Save the Music Foundation donates instruments and technology to schools, provides services for teachers, and advocates for music education.
Sphinx Organization
“The Sphinx Organization is the social justice organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts” through four main areas: Education & Access, Artist Development, Performing Arts, and Arts Leadership.
Programming Resources
Places to go for expanding repertoire:
…And We Were Heard
…And We Were Heard gives underrepresented composers a platform to have their music heard. Composers that submit works are matched with top-notch ensembles and engage in collaborative recording sessions. The resulting audio tracks are hosted on our site along with innovative ideas of how to support diverse voices in music.
Beyond Elijah Rock: The Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers
Compiled by Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett, this resource includes works not part of the traditional idiomatic canon, including spirituals, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, and rap among others.
Diversify the Stand
Diversify the Stand listens and learns to the stories of passionate musicians and “provides accessible educational music for younger musicians through commissioning composers of color, gender-marginalized composers, and composers identifying as LGBTQ+.”
Resource Spaces
Sources for information and inspiration:
Composers Diversity Collective
The Composers Diversity Collective is “an organization of music creators who are achieving a workplace environment in the entertainment industry as diverse as our society.”
Cultural Connections by Design
Cultural Connections by Design works to educate, research, and unite individuals and groups on diversity education to create a lasting change.
Institute for Composer Diversity
The Institute for Composer Diversity is a database of works to discover music written by underrepresented groups.
Cayambis Institute for Latin American Studies in Music
“CILASiM was formed to address this need and to serve as one of the world’s leading advocates for Latin American classical music, and in so doing, develop bonds of goodwill and unity among the peoples of the Americas.”