Guest Lecture by Dr. Philip Ewell on Thursday, 3/21, 2-3:30pm, Sateren Auditorium
In certain languages the words for “history” and “story” are the same, as in French (histoire) or Russian (история). “History” usually implies an accurate account of past events, while “story” usually refers to events that may or may not accurately reflect on the past, embellished as necessary by a “storyteller.” But in this distinction, race is rarely mentioned. Anyone, irrespective of race, can write histories or tell stories, yet with remarkable consistency in the academic study of music in the U.S., our histories have been written by white persons, usually men, passing from generation to generation with little divergence from narratives of “great works” of the “western canon.” And when a nonwhite voice challenges the white narrative, efforts to stifle that voice are swift and severe. In this talk I’ll expand on music’s histories and stories, and explain why the common American music curriculum is still segregated along racial lines. I’ll then suggest that we need to desegregate it and foreground race in our discussions so that all racial musics, and musical races, have a seat at the table and a voice in the conversation.