Photo provided.
When the Black Lives Matter movement shook the world last summer, conversations about injustice and inequality often turned to institutions in the public eye, such as government, police, and schools.
But there was also a reckoning facing another industry: classical music. Why were so many textbooks and courses lacking in content about BIPOC composers? How much music had been lost because of their creator’s identity? And how could meaningful work be done to ensure that culturally diverse music becomes the norm at music schools?
These were some of the questions that Baylie Adams, a Black fourth-year saxophone performance major at the UVic School of Music, was pondering last year.