Episode 3.14 - Brassy & Non-Brassy Resources, with Casidy Reed
One more podcast crossover this season! Episode 14 includes our talk with Casidy Reed from MusicHERstory, a podcast about equity and inclusivity in all facets of the music industry. From programming resources to podcasts and organizations, we spend this episode with Casidy discussing a range of resources musicians may find useful when diversifying their own stands!
To learn more about the resources we talk about, check out the links below!
Programming Resources
Trumpet Music by Women, compiled by Dr. Amy Dunker
Trombone Compositions by Women Composers, compiled by Dr. Natalie Mannix
Works for Horn by Underrepresented Composers, compiled by Dr. Caiti Beth McKinney
Works with Horn by Female Composers, compiled by Dr. Lin Foulk Baird
Tuba-Euphonium Social Justice Initiative’s Composer Database
Educational Resources
Brass Music by Black Composers: A Bibliography, by Aaron Horne
Bold as Brass Podcast with Melissa Brown
General Resources & Organizations
Boulanger Initiative & Consulting Program
Educational Resources for Music Performance/Ensemble Librarianship
International Association for Women in Music (IAWM)
International Women’s Brass Conference
Full Transcript
Casidy Reed 0:20
Welcome, everyone. My name is Casidy Reed. I am the host and creator of the music HERstory Podcast. I'm also a band director, I teach grades five through 12. I'm a trumpet player, I freelance in the Cleveland area, I also perform in the Cleveland Winds. And I am currently the director of the New Horizons band program at the Baldwin Wallace conservatory of music. So I run that with old folks. And I also have young folks. So I teach everybody, and it's great. So that's a little about me.
Carrie Blosser 0:54
I'm Dr. Carrie Blosser. I am also a trumpet player, you notice a running theme for today. Previously, I was middle school, high school band director, I've had some experience conducting in like a community band. I'm a military musician now. And I started Diversify the Stand with Ashley Killam and we have been trying to commission and promote works of living composers through some commissioned projects. Also, this podcast that you're listening now is just another way we're trying to expand our community and talk with more people about different avenues in music in general, for careers and paths, and just what a music job can actually look like.
Ashley Killam 1:35
And I'm Ashley Killam, the third trumpet player in today's chat. I started Diversify the Stand with Carrie. And yeah, I've been doing the past few years, I've been giving lectures on inclusive programming, and helping musicians gain the tools to start diversifying your stands and repertoire. And as of two weeks ago, I was I have been brought on as the director of research for the Boulanger Initiative, which is really great, and a resource that we're gonna talk about later. So we kind of Casidy reached out to us just as a way to do some sort of like cross podcast, really cool Chat, where we could talk about the resources that we found really helpful, and that we think other musicians and educators and performers should know about, because there's a lot of really great resources out there. And we want to help just increase the accessibility and the awareness. Because not everyone may know about all of these resources. Welcome, and we hope you enjoy. Brass resources are going to start right away. But if you're not a brass player and want to skip that section, skip over to just before 24 minutes, and that's when General Resources will begin.
Carrie Blosser 2:48
Yeah, I think some things that I've I've been thinking about, and I think the last two years specifically, for me, personally, I've really been looking at my filing cabinet of music. And like, I feel like a lot of people were in the same boat that I was just playing a lot of the same tunes, and I don't actually have to right like, you get to a point in your career where as a teacher, you can give your students any piece you want, as a performer, you can play anything you want. And I just noticed that my filing cabinet was a bit homogenous, in terms of the music that I had there. So personally, I started to look for more pieces, you know, by composers of color, by, by women by non binary by trans composers. Like I was really looking for that, like two years ago, and it was actually through volunteering with the International Trumpet Guild that I met Ashley, and then kind of started this whole, especially educational works, I don't know. And Casidy, you can talk more about this because you're in the current educational world now, but I just feel like there's not a there's not a ton of educational works that are really being promoted by like big publishers by like marginalized composers.
Casidy Reed 3:59
Yeah, absolutely. And I think the issue is, is twofold and that one, we like to teach what we are taught, we are very comfortable with teaching what we are taught. And that's the thing that we instinctually do no matter if you're teaching in a large group classroom like I am or you teach privately or you have your own studio or you teach a large group it's it's that's what we do instinctively. So, it takes some active work on our part to go about looking for works by these communities. That and some states are doing better about this and others not so much *cough* Ohio where I am right now, um, but our state lists what we promote as you know, for students to play for so an ensemble or to audition for All State or All District or wherever state you are in, you call it different things. But the list that we have for compositions for soloists or chamber music or even large group is very homogenous, like we were just talking about. It's very men, white men. The same things over and over again as trumpet players like we know Haydn, Hummel, Hindemith, you had like the three H's when you were in high school. And that's what you worked on. And maybe a couple of other things that were considered standard. But because we are comfortable teaching what we're taught a and b, because of what these lists require, for young students in order to audition and compete in these things, it kind of perpetuates this whole lack of diversity. And as a current trumpet player, and as a current band director, I feel an immense amount of pressure to give my students that music because that's what they need to play in order to compete in XYZ. And I think that the more colleges require more of a generic sort of requirement for their auditions, like pick a piece that's written from this century, or pick a, you know, a contrasting pieces, instead of saying you need to play this specific piece and this specific piece, I think that's what's going to start changing things also from top down into K 12 education. Because when we stop seeing that sort of pressure coming from music schools, I think that will also start changing them stateless, as well. But there's multiple factors that kind of interplay here, and it's kind of like a domino effect. If we can change one domino, then the rest won't, you know, fall that same way. That's just my experience anyway,
Ashley Killam 6:25
And it's so many hoops to jump through for changing those lists. I know I was in touch with a couple of people for the OMEA lists. And like I sent off a ton of recommendations. And then apparently, it was just like, never looked at, which is awesome. And so I'm like Carrie and I have been looking to get the solos in Winds of Change. Some states, it's an easy like, we self submit some states, they need to like I've had to email a ton of different people to try and find the right person to like get pieces reviewed. Some states, it's like every four years, they'll consider new pieces. So there's no like, set standard either, which makes it kind of like a free for all.
Casidy Reed 7:05
Yeah, and it's very ambiguous. And they don't, a lot of states, don't directly put that on their state association music website. If you go on their website, there's no like thing that says, hey, if you want to submit a new piece, click here. There's like a whole process. And it's very weird. It's not very clear. And if you look at a lot of the people that are in charge of selecting that music for the states, they are very reflective of the music that is chosen too. I did a little stalking when I first became a music teacher, and I was just looking at, oh, who's in charge? What do they look like? Who they identify as? And I was like, oh, make sense. Now. Um, so that also plays into it as well.
Carrie Blosser 7:42
I think it was, we'll talk about some resources for programming in a little bit. But I remember looking through, And We Were Heard is a website that has kind of like, does like a matching between composers and performers to get recordings for marginalized composers, but they also have some resources on their page. And there's a bunch of things by like, on the state lists, and I think it's like band and orchestra that they have. It talks about, like, you know, of the recommended Wind Ensemble pieces, like how many are by by women, non binary or trans, like a gender gender diverse composers. And it's like such a small amount. It's so small, and I was just like baffled.
Casidy Reed 8:23
Yeah, I mean, I did a whole research project as part of my graduate studies. And I took the NYSSMA, which is New York State School Music Association, handbook. And I counted, I just went through band in general, because that's like what I teach. So I went through and I counted how many how many female composers there were, how many male composers there were, I think there was six female composers. And it was like, it's very tokenised. And that they were like, Oh, we put the female composer at every single level. Okay, cool. We got one hurray. Versus there were like, hundreds of male composers. And then obviously, for women of color, it was even smaller, I don't even know if there was even one woman of color in that manual for large group band. So that's obviously a huge issue. And New York tends to be you know, a very progressive state, they're very musically inclined, they have amazing music ed programs there. Being a former teacher there, and I grew up there. I know what they're capable of. And so that was a little disheartening to see that and so it makes me like a little nervous, like, what are some of these other state books like if New York is like this, right, so yeah, it's a big issue. But again, just making people more aware of these issues, it does help.
Carrie Blosser 9:34
Yeah, and I think too like, the at the part of the time of my career, whatever I feel like old sometimes but I think that like there are like students are in college now are really in general looking for pieces, not by the dead white guys. Um, which is awesome. And I feel like I'm starting to see it reflected in some of like, the lists, like you know, of like, Oh, I'm gonna audition for this professional competition or this international thing, or whatever, it's a slow change, but I feel like I'm starting to see some stuff happen. It needs to be like, everything all the time. But I think that the places where, you know, if you're like I, when I was feeling frustrated about like, why are we still playing the same stuff? Have you not paid attention to anything that's happened in the last five, 10, two years? Six months, you know, is to find out who is on those boards, you know, I know it's hard for, you know, general music education, like Ashley saying, if it's like, oh, it's every four years, we review pieces, but professional organizations like the International whatever instrument you're in, they can pick pieces every year. So that is something like if you're feeling frustrated with your instrument, specifically, find out who runs the committee, send them an email, just say, Hey, I'd recommend this, this would be cool to see or like, Hey, can we look at more stuff? Worst thing that's going to happen is they ignore you. Best thing is you might see some change.
Casidy Reed 11:02
Absolutely.
Ashley Killam 11:03
This whole kind of chat is going to be split into brass and non brassy resources. And so if we're thinking in terms of, brass resources, the hardest point is just kind of where to start.
Carrie Blosser 11:17
So bouncing into the the programming thing. So as three trumpet players, there are a few things and I can talk about how great this is because I didn't make it. But Ashley Killam, who is also here, created this like huge catalog of trumpet music, and there's chamber music in there, this brass quintet, music, there's pretty much if the trumpets in an ensemble actually, like found it and researched it and like put it into this into this amazing database. It's free for use, it's just on our website. We'll link it in our like description, so that way you have access to it, but I use it all the time. Like if I'm looking for new works for brass quintet. I'm just like scrolling through. I am always looking for, I play with group called Calypsus Brass and we are specifically looking for pieces that don't have recordings so that we can like provide those recordings for composers so like, you bet your bet your C trumpet, I was like going through. And I was like, Hey, let me email this composer, let me email us with a hey, we're interested in like, Would you like a recording? We're gonna purchase your piece. Do you want us to send you a recording for this? Do you how much do you want for like, for the recording, so like, for me, I've used it a ton. And anytime someone on like, Facebook, Instagram is like, Oh, I'm looking for music by blah. I'm like, here's Ashley's website. I used to go through and like actually find pieces and like put it in, but like, it's so well organized. It's so easy to use. I'm just like, Here you go. So if you are a trumpet player, or you teach the trumpet, and you're looking for pieces, you should check out her website, it's very helpful. And the one cool thing again, just TED talk about Ashley, how great she is more. So one really awesome thing about this too, is so it's not just actually searching the internet for people that are marginalized. It she contacted every person that's on that site, to make sure that it was okay to like confirming the data with pieces confirming that was cool with them, making sure like giving the data that the composers were interested in. And I think that responsibility is really important in terms of like, not just putting someone's name in a book or on a website, just to be like, here you go play this person, because they're blah, Ashley made sure to check that was cool with what like they were okay with having their name off list, because lists can be scary. And unfortunately, there are people in the world that are not very nice and will kind of go after people online or in person because of who they are. So I think it's really great that Ashley did that. So now I'll stop talking great things about her now. But look at that website.
Ashley Killam 13:36
And it's not complete by any means. I just haven't had the time to reach back out to all of the updates like updates in the sense of I found a lot more more pieces and more composers. But I haven't had the time to reach out to them. So it's not up on the public site. And for any non brass players. If you're like, Oh, well, I went programming resources, send me an email because I have other side research that's just not up on my website. But the other trumpet resource that are helpful start in making putting the catalog together that I did occur is trumpet music by women, which was a great start. It's all like organized really well, depending on you know, again, what exactly you're looking for. And yeah, I just tried to make this and a lot of these resources are the same way they were made in a sense to just make music more accessible because it takes a lot of time to hunt pieces down and to find works. And so if it can be put in, you know, small little clusters, that makes it slightly easier because you have less digging to do, which I'm doing a lot with my new job on like digging for works. And so having it somewhere makes it really easy, which is the same for the other breadth resources we had. Natalie Mannix did the same thing for trombone compositions by women. It's a really great PDF. Again, a ton of trombone works, and then there's two really great horn resources. Works for horn by female composer's by Dr. Lin Foulk Baird, who's the horn professor at Western Michigan. Her website is super thorough. She just recently updated it within the past couple of years because of extra COVID time as we do. And then Dr. Catie Beth McKinney, who I know she saw one of my presentations at some point in the past couple of years. And she was inspired by my catalog to make a catalog of works for horn by underrepresented composers. So all of these in you know in their own little fields. I know the Tuba Euphonium Social Justice Initiative. Another really great organization is putting together a low brass euphonium, tuba resource. And they're getting all of their submissions are self submit by composers, because, again, transparency and making sure that everyone consents to it is most important for me and for a lot of these groups, because people involved in them have been harmed, and know of others who have been harmed. So just making sure if you listen to this, and you're like, Oh, I'm so inspired to like hunt things down. Just make sure that everyone approves of it first, and you are putting everyone's you know, identities, you're you're putting their identities out in the world in the way that they want to be seen, making sure you don't out anyone making sure the information is correct, making sure they even want to be included. Because not everyone wants to be included in resources like this, we're going to link all of these resources as well in all of the notes. So don't worry about trying to Google and hunt things down.
Carrie Blosser 16:23
And one group again, if you're looking for like some representation in terms of people performing the Chromatic Brass Collective is a relatively new brass group. But it is a bunch of really fantastic brass performers. So if you're looking for like people playing and instrument demos, Estela Aragon, who was one of our guests before, like, did like an intro to trumpet video very recently on social media. And that's a really great way to introduce like student players, having representation of different people performing the instrument, I think is so important. And they're doing this with a lot of their different players for like the meet the instruments, so hopefully, we don't have to do COVID as much anymore. But having those videos and being able to like pop it up on like your projector screen, or like whatever you have in your classroom, TVs, whatever options you have, I think that's a really awesome visual for your students to see that it's not just, you know, the fierceness of the world playing their instrument. It's a wide range of human
Casidy Reed 17:20
Absolutely. And another organization that we want to mention is the International Women's Brass Conference, which the three of us are all a part of. And we're also presenting at their upcoming conference in May. So I will be doing a session on instrument representation and gender equity in band as far as all banishment go. But if anyone's going to be at IWBC, this is a session that's also not just for educators in like a large band setting. But anyone who teaches privately or anything like that, I'm going to discuss issues of representation, resources for anyone who teaches in any capacity, that might be helpful for them with this gender equity issue when it comes to teaching any instrument. So I'm going to be doing a session about that. And Carrie and Ashley are also doing a session, I don't know if you want to talk about it really quick.
Carrie Blosser 18:13
We're, I think we're doing two, we're playing demos of each of the pieces from the Winds of Change book. So continue to support our composers and playing and showing those again, possibilities for private teachers, band directors, whoever's there. And then we're also going to talk a little bit about like the process of putting together our collection. Because when we started diversify the stand, we didn't really have a guidebook and we kind of created it. I think it went pretty well. So we're gonna share how we get asked once, like, what would we do differently, and I honestly couldn't think of anything other than, like, we just didn't pay ourselves because we're so passionate about the project. And we wanted all the money to go to the composers. That's like the only like, quote, unquote, bad thing, but I don't feel bad about that. I feel good about donating my time. So yeah, I don't really have any bad things about that unless Ashley wants to chime in?
Ashley Killam 19:04
No, I think it's great. And yeah, yeah, so that'll be really fun. And then I'm also doing a session on creating like an inclusive space, your practice space, just things to think about, which Yeah, should be a lot of fun. So it'll be great. Oh, and then a book I wanted to mention, that has been really helpful. In my research and I know in some of my colleagues' research is Brass Music by Black Composers: A Bibliography by Aaron Horne. It's not the most up to date resource in the history of the world, but it's really amazing and really thorough for all brass instruments. The downside is not every piece is published and on the market right now. So I've had to do a lot of sifting and in terms of trumpet music, some of them are unpublished. Some of them are self published. I've done Chianti, which again is another thing if you're interested in working with living composers. Just reach out and say hi, and if there isn't a recording or if there is isn't you know if it is a lot of money asked for perusal copy. I've never been turned away by asking to see the music ahead of time so that I know if it's what I'm looking for. I've done this a lot for pieces for my students to make sure it's at a level that would fit them as players and composers and and publishers have never really turned me away in regards to that. And then if it fits what I'm looking for, to purchase the music, because again, helping composers supporting them.
Casidy Reed 20:27
composers are people to ah. And then the last resource we wanted to talk about as far as brass specific is the Bold as Brass podcast. So obviously, Carrie and Ashley, do Diversify the Stand. I have Music HERstory which my podcast is more of a general anyone in the music field can come on. But I do have a lot of brass players. And both Ashley and Carrie have actually been on my podcast before so you could check out their specific episodes, which is awesome. But Melissa Brown does her own podcast, Bold as Brass, which is also another awesome resource. She talks to a lot of people in the brass field a lot of underrepresented folks. And she also has a lot of resources as well through her podcast. If you want to check out more she's also we'll give her a little plug for another podcast if you'd like to check that out, as well. So do we want to add any other brass specific things are we've exhausted our list here?
Carrie Blosser 21:23
Feel pretty good with it. I think the big thing with like the podcast stuff is like there's a lot of, again, when you think about homogenous stuff, like business owners are all kind of homogenous. So it's sometimes the podcast created a bit homogenous. So I think it's good to find those those podcasts out there that are maybe like a little different than the rest or aren't interviewing the same five guests all the time.
Casidy Reed 21:45
Absolutely. Yeah, Carol Jantsch. She also has a podcast called The Rising Stars podcast, which just popped into my head. And that's a really awesome podcast because she purposely has people on that are not like big name people yet. There are people that are usually younger, like sometimes she has people that are still in their teens on her show. She has a lot of people in their early 20s that are just getting like started out in their career. And I had her on my show and she was talking about she also purposely tries to find folks that just need that little boost of representation, because they are from an underrepresented community. So she has a really great podcast as well, where she talks to those people. And I believe a lot of her folks are also brass players as well just because she's a brass player herself. But that's a cool podcast that everybody should check out The Rising Stars podcast, Carol Jantch because she's a badass.
Ashley Killam 22:42
She actually just announced they're stopping it after like two seasons? Oh, no.
Casidy Reed 22:47
Well check out our old episodes because they're really cool. Watch what's there, because it's really awesome. There was a really great idea at first, for sure.
Carrie Blosser 22:55
That's so sad. I remember they were doing so I think it was like the archivist with the New York Philharmonic, where, was doing some, like interviewing some people they're like, had had very long careers in orchestra. And they she she interviewed Orin O'Brien, which she was like the first woman to be in New York Phil. And they talked a little bit about like how I always think about that equality aspect of like, she was going to be hired earlier. But they said no, no, no, we don't even have a locker room for women yet. Let's just push it off a little bit longer. We'll keep letting her sub and then they stopped that podcast, I listened to that one episode. And I was like, this is like, you know, you think about that accessibility like, you know, 50 years ago, because she'd been in for a long time. And then they stopped the podcast, I was just like,
Casidy Reed 23:39
Yeah, but good resource. We're transitioning over to our next segment, which is just about some general resources. So brass player, if you are or not, these are some resources for you. So this can be for anyone and everyone who is looking just to, again, diversify their repertoire, just to check some new things out. Some of these resources and organizations we are going to talk about are for folks that are in an underrepresented community to provide some more resources of equity when it comes to auditions or educational resources as well. So we have a whole gamut of things that we've created a list for of just things that I've had guests on my show, talk about that event from these organizations, and things like that, just to provide you with some more resources to help you out. Music Theory Examples by Women. This is a website that's been around for a while. And it's kind of a misleading title because there are music theory examples on the website, but there's also a catalog of music by women composers as part of the website as well. So it's not just music theory stuff, it is everything as well. So that's something to check out if you're interested in more music by women composers, Americanorchestras.org part of their website has a list of various catalogs that you can go to they're linked to other resources. So if you're looking for something that where there's like five or six resources all in one space that will connect you to different databases, that is a website to go to, it's really easy to find more materials there. Same thing with The Composer's Equity Project. Their website is looking towards lifting and promoting underrepresented populations of composers as well. So more resources there. ColourFULL Music, and it's spelled like how people from the UK and Australia spell colorful. So it's o u r, and then full with a double L. This is a really cool website started by Jodie Blackshaw. She is a composer out of Australia. And she noticed how much there was a lack of women composers, and other folks of underrepresented communities in the world, as far as school age music all the way up to professional so she was she noticed some of the things we were talking about earlier in this episode of there's this huge gap of people writing for younger age students. So she decided to create her own catalog. And again, she talked to all these composers before she added them. But this is a really good resource. For those of you who are looking for specific pieces to program for any sort of concert or recital or what have you, she has created a really awesome catalog. A lot of it is band works right now because that's what she writes for. But there's some also some other things on there for like choir and orchestra and that sort of thing and some chamber group stuff. So especially if you're an educator, this is a really good resource for you. And she's awesome. Jodie is great. If you send her an email, she will send you one right back, she's really responsive. So again, a living composer that you can talk to, and have an interaction with. And I believe on her website, it says something like, have a coffee with me or like chat with me, she makes us sound like really casual, you can actually set up a meeting with her and just talk about her compositions, or representation and those issues, and she can also provide you some really great resources. She's a really helpful person. So that's, that's kind of Jodie, she's awesome. Um, there's another resource called MusicbyBlackComposers.org. Again, just like the website talks about features, music by Black composers, and it's all there all in one website. So an issue that we often talk about when we talk about issues of representation is okay, well, where do I find all this stuff. But the internet is a lovely thing. And so is Google. If you literally type in music by Black composers, this is the first hit that comes up. And it's a great resource, you just have to do like the extra step and just look for it, right. So it's not always right in front of you. And a couple other organizations that are helpful for those of you who are students or people that are looking to audition, and you are from an underrepresented community. The Sphinx Organization is an awesome organization for musicians of color, and they do a lot of programming for young musicians of color and trying to help them with educational resources. They also have a whole fund for those folks that are trying to take auditions, they will help you pay for your travel expenses and things like that. So you're able to audition. So things like we talk about these issues of equity, when it comes to bringing up musicians of color. And that is one of them is being able to afford to travel to various auditions and that sort of thing. So there are support organizations through Sphinx that do that. And the Lift Music Fund, I actually had a former student of mine win one of their scholarships, which was really awesome, but the Lift Music Fund is kind of like the K 12 sort of version of Sphinx, in that they also provide resources. There's a lot of scholarships for young musicians of color and things like that through the Lift Music Fund. So really great resource if you have students that need help paying for an instrument supplying, you know, themselves music, maybe paying to take some college auditions, things like that. The Lift Music Fund is really great to apply for those scholarships. And I believe, I don't know if they're still doing this, but they were doing like monthly scholarships for a while where they were selecting students from a pool. So that's a really great resource. I know my student who won one of the scholarships was able to pay for his professional level trumpet like he was actually able to like go and get his Bach Strad now where he reasonably couldn't be able to afford that before, because he came from a single mother household did not have a lot of money. And so those things are setting him up to be able to audition for for music school, which he's doing right now this year. So again, just providing those resources for folks that you know, may not necessarily be able to afford those things. And then the last one that I talked about before I turn it over because I've been talking for a while. Is the Wind Repertory Project. For me personally as a as a band director. This is one of like the number one resources that I go to. Most of the stuff again, like it says in the in the title is wind rep so wind ensemble rep. But again, it's another great resource in a database. For those of you who are again looking for new works or works by underrepresented composers, it's a really great resource for you there. So that's kind of my list of all those sorts of things that I've come across. And it wasn't just my work, it was like the work of all the people that I brought on my show, who have been from these organizations that could really give me you know, the one on one time and also their personal experiences working with these organizations or being affected by those that have provided me with a great amount of information. So it wasn't just my research, it was also the wonderful people that I've had on the show. But again, we're giving you all of this stuff all in one place, which is awesome that we can have this conversation. So Carrie and Ashley, I don't know if you want to continue with our list of stuff.
Ashley Killam 30:50
An organization that I love, and it's near and dear to me is the Rising Tide Music Press, which is a no profit publishing company started by Allyssa Jones. I was the general manager for the past year and a half as it started up and launched and I worked side by side with the founder with Allyssa and Carrie is actually connected too because Rising Tides' first ensemble in residence is Calypsus Brass. And Calypsus is working with the composers of Rising Tide to make recordings of their brass works. We signed on 25 composers in the first year, and so they're all able, if people aren't aware, most publishing companies composers receive like large publishing companies JW pepper Hal Leonard, like those big platforms, composers usually receive between five and 10% as a cut. So if you think like I sell a piece for $100, the publishing company takes 90 to $95 of that. And then the composers received the rest. And so Rising Tide is amazing. Because whatever composers ask for it, they receive 100% of it. And so it's been really amazing to build this catalog. And I think by the time by last week, when I finished up my work, we were at 114 pieces in the catalog. And so it's everything from large ensembles through individual solos, chamber, strings, voice instrumental, a little bit of everything. So check them out, support those composers, because they are wonderful, wonderful people. And then the other one I wanted to, to quickly say is the Boulanger Initiative, which is all about promoting works, both historical and getting into living composers too of gender marginalized composers. And so I currently with the job that I've started as director of research, I am obviously doing a lot of research. I'm helping build the historical composer database right now. I am leading consulting. So I usually get I get a lot of emails for people asking about programming. And so now I'm going to be sending them this way. Because it's super, super affordable. It's pretty much like anyone individuals through large ensembles, through professional groups can sign up, like fill out a simple form with what you're specifically looking for. And either myself or interns or other experts, we will find pieces that fit exactly what you're looking for for your recitals or concerts or juries, or you name it. So that's something I'm building out this year, and also in the process of planning some projects that are going to launch in the near future, which is exciting, and starting to do some residencies. So on Wednesday, I leave to or not now, at the time of taping this upcoming Wednesday, I leave for Longy up in Cambridge, to do a couple day residency up there where I'm leading the I'm leading a workshop on pretty much just inclusive programming and building your concerts and building your programs. And I'm participating in some of their other workshops they've got and we're ending with a WikiThon. So it's been really fun, and it's a really amazing group.
Carrie Blosser 34:01
And then I mentioned this one a little earlier, And We Were Heard is a great resource for especially if you're doing Wind Ensemble, they also have some other like databases and resources there. Dr. Kaitlin Bove started it. They're doing a lot of really great research and like trying to expand the pieces that we're playing in band. Their episode is on Kaitlin's episode is on our podcast. And it's just it's really great. And she talks a lot about like programming and like how, like, again, we're always thinking about like, you know, I don't mean to say diversity is a hot topic or like a buzzword now because we are Diversify the Stand. But you know, I think sometimes people they think of programming someone from a diverse background or not the dead white guys last. And I really love that she kind of said pro like, find that piece that you have to play because you love it. It's going to fit your group and then fill in the rest rather than thinking of diversity as like a as like an afterthought. So I really appreciated that perspective from her in general. And just the work from And We Were Heard is really awesome in terms of wind bands. I play in a band, so I'm always looking for new pieces to recommend. And it's been a great resource for me, as well. And then we had decolonize Decolonizing the Music Room has a Facebook has a website, and there's a lot of really great, just general education topics there talking about, you know, like, we see some problematic teachers through the Instagram and through Facebook of like people just doing completely wrong things when it comes to holidays. And just, I mean, just things that are just traumatic to some some students. So Decolonizing the Music Room is a great resource that you can check out I highly recommend it. There's a lot of great topics in there just for general learning can be music related could just be like personal journey things too. But there's, there's a Facebook page where a lot of people will provide some custom resources, and ask questions too, which is really awesome. And then Castle of our Skins is the last one that I wanted to talk about. We've had their two founders on our podcast, based in the Boston area, but there's they have a they call their BIBA blog has some great posts of historical, you know, Black composers, looking at performers currently, they do a really great concert series. And I think they're just, they're just starting, I think year 10. So they have a bunch of really great concerts and resources. Their, their Instagram has been really great. This past year, they did like quilting, by like Black artists, which was really interesting. And then they had a poetry, like kind of month long poetry thing was just some really beautiful poems again, by, like by, by Black poets, and it was just like a really, really awesome experience to go through, um I love everything that they're posting. So I highly recommend checking out Castle of our Skins for more than just the music, but just kind of general knowledge too. But
Casidy Reed 37:06
Yeah, that's great. I'm just gonna bounce off really quick of what you were talking about with Decolonizing the Music Room, sometimes when accounts have titles like that certain people shy away unless they are actually working in a classroom. And I'd recommend everyone to not do that. And to really join as many educational groups as you can, that focus on things like this, no matter what teaching you do in any capacity, because there's so much to learn from that. Even if you're not, you know, you don't consider yourself a teacher, you should if you teach privately, or in any other capacity of that nature, and really start following those accounts, because you will find that you realize how many issues that are out there with things like method books, I've had whole episodes where he talked about all the problems and the books. And like Carrie was saying holiday concerts, and things like that. And so it can really open your eyes to things that we've considered decades ago as being normal. And now we're looking at things like wow, that is questionably racist, or that is, in fact, racist, or things like that. So I really recommend following those accounts to kind of challenge your way of thinking as an educator in any capacity. And I actually realized I skipped a couple of my lists, I'm gonna circle back to them real quick. I'm Anna's Composer Database, um, Anna created an entire website, it's on her actual personal website, she created an entire database of just a bunch of composers again, so yet another database for you to check out with a bunch of different works, Educational Resources for Music Performance/Ensemble Librarianship. This is something that I actually found earlier today. But it actually has basically almost all of the resources we just talked about are all linked on that one website, and even has its own database as well. So again, another place like a central location to find a bunch of different resources and databases all in one spot. Um also the International Association for Women in Music. They are a great organization for resources as well. They have a conference that's up and coming in June. And I'm actually a member of their development and advocacy committee. And with organizations like this, where you know, we have women in the title or things like that it can kind of push the binary a lot. And this is an issue that also happens with IWBC as well, the International Women's Brass Conference. And so one of the goals that I have for IAWM is making it more accepting and more inclusive to all gender expressions as well, because I believe that that's you know, it's kind of a challenge when it comes to an organization like this that has women in the title, we need to acknowledge that there are other underrepresented populations of people that might feel excluded from organizations like this or might feel like oh, this is not made for me. I can't get anything out of this. And so that's something that I'm working on with this organization. And I know there are folks within IWBC that are starting to challenge that as well. And so again, just creating things that are more inclusive for everyone. But if you're looking for more resources, and you are a person that is looking for more professional women around the world to connect to IAWM is a great place. It's not just centric to the US, I am on a committee with someone who lives in Belgium. So it's everyone all over the world. It's a great resource. It's a great community of folks. And there's just a lot of positive community building that comes through that organization. I think that's one of the benefits of that, again, continuing to challenge these organizations as well to you know, put out that, that we're including others, and we're not othering them in our language as well. So that's another organization that everyone should take a look at, too.
Carrie Blosser 40:54
There's a lot of different options and a lot of different databases and stuff. And sometimes people are like, Oh, databases are like too much, they're not too much. Take just take a little tiny thing, do a little bit of research. I know. I remember the hustle that it was to be like a first year band director doing all the things. But I definitely challenge anyone who's in a teaching role or working with students working with other musicians just take a little bit like take five minutes out of your week, your week, and just look at new pieces. And and think about programming, just small chunks, you don't have to, no one is an expert day one, take just a little bit of time.
Casidy Reed 41:33
Absolutely. And even even challenge your students to check out these databases. Some one of my sub plans for when I'm out, like let's say I'm at IWBC. And I'm not going to be there for a day in May or whatever. Right. One of my projects I have my students work on every year is checking out these databases and programming their own concert program. And it's really awesome, because they get to listen to recordings, check out what they like. They are they inherently start to look for people that identify the same way that as they do, which is very different than most of the pieces that are being programmed right now. And they're checking out new things. And they're checking out different ensemble arrangements, jazz music, things like that. They're challenging that norm. And they're also able to put a little bit of student voice in there and program what they're interested in programming. And then I sit back and I also look at all the programs they created. I go, Hey, that is a really cool piece, maybe I'll program it on the next concert. So they're also providing some input into what they want to learn too. So that's kind of an assignment that I do every year just to check out and see, you know, what they're thinking of. And then they also get to learn what the process is like for me, as a director and as a teacher of what what things do I go through when I'm thinking of what to plan for my next concert cycle. And so I talked to them about, you know, finding contrasting pieces and finding something that's appropriate for their level and things like that, those things that they can consider. And some of these databases are really cool. And that you could search for where the composer's from too. So it's always kind of cool to see if there's any composers that are alive that are around where you live, and maybe bringing them in even like over zoom to like talk to your kids about, you know, what they're doing, and being a professional musician, and some things that they can directly apply to also where they live, because then they can have that extra connection of Oh, yeah, I'm from here, and like I went to this school and they get the kind of a connection there to a professional in the field, it doesn't make being a composer seem like this really lofty thing that none of them can ever meet that challenge. You know what I mean? So it's, it kind of makes a more human connection there with a composer as well. So that's some things that I recommend just like as a teacher, having more student voice in the process of choosing repertoire. And you can use any of these databases, just share it with your kids. And they could be like, okay, cool, I'm going to check out the Music by Black Composers website, and I'm going to find some pieces that I like, or you know, things like that.
Ashley Killam 43:56
Well, thanks for coming on. I know, I learned about some new resources and organizations to check out. And I hope everyone listening did too. Again, all of the links to find all of these platforms are going to be in the podcast description. And we are really, really excited. We hope you learned a lot. And now can go take this off into your own little spaces to grow and learn from.
Casidy Reed 44:21
Oh, and also we're people too if you have any questions about any resources, and like Ashley's awesome database, or anything that has to do with either of our podcasts, or you're just stuck and you're trying to find things and that sort of thing, or trying to build a relationship with someone in the professional field, you can absolutely contact any of us. I'm sure we'd all be happy to answer any of your questions or point you in the right direction, as well. So we hope that you do that and form that connection.
Ashley Killam 44:48
Emails will also be in the podcast description.
Casidy Reed 44:51
Yeah, go team.
Ashley Killam 44:52
Well, Casidy thank you so much for joining us today. And we hope you had a great time too.
Casidy Reed 44:57
Yes, thanks for joining me as well.
Carrie Blosser 45:01
Thank you for listening to Diversify the Stand. To support us and our projects, visit our website at diversifythestand.org.
Ashley Killam 45:08
And a huge shout out to Eris DeJarnett who wrote the intro and outro music. The piece that we've been playing is Bored Games for two trumpets and fixed media. Links to their website or in the podcast description.
Carrie Blosser 45:18
And as always, we asked our guests what's on your stand?