Musicking across Hemispheres

A Transatlantic Approach to Western Music History and Curricular Reform at a Hispanic Serving Institution

Abstract

Advocates for music curricula reform call for programs of study that better address the concerns of professional musicians, engage the musical traditions of local communities, increase global awareness, and advance social justice. While global approaches to music history studies can address these goals, finding ways to broaden the scope of music history courses beyond the Western canon while also fulfilling curricular expectations that require knowledge of the canon is a challenge for many instructors. When considering how to expand courses to meet the goals above, I propose instructors prioritize the needs of the students and communities their institutions serve. In this article, I share my experience teaching music history at a large Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in the United States. I employ a transatlantic perspective to broaden the historical context in which the canonic repertoires of Western Europe developed and include a wider diversity of musical practices, all while highlighting content relevant to the backgrounds and aspirations of local students. This article presents examples from graduate and undergraduate courses initially designed to survey the music of Western Europe as part of a traditional conservatory-style curriculum. My recent iterations of these courses explore intersections of European musical traditions with music in the Western Hemisphere to advance the aforementioned goals of curricular reform in an environment where completely redesigning the music history sequence is not a practical option at present.