Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession

How is the classical music industry responding to the challenges of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and other social justice movements? Is increasing attention to equity and diversity in the classical music profession over recent years leading to systemic change? In this book, scholars, activists and musicians from countries across Europe and North America analyze inequalities in the classical music profession and introduce strategies for making change. Exploringracism, class and gender inequalities, disability representation, "authenticity", changing the canon, and neoliberalism, the book brings together analyses from academics alongside contributions frommusicians and industry leaders working in the classical music industry who reflect on issues of diversity and share insights and best practices. Themes of the book include institutional legacies and possibilities for change; racial, classed and gendered inequalities and marginalised voices; and strategies for activism, whether reflective practices, informal networks, or larger organisations leading change. The book also discusses questions such as whether musical change isnecessary for social change in classical music, and how activists can acknowledge structural inequalities whilst holding on to the possibility of change. Opening up the interdisciplinary field of"classical music studies," this book lays the groundwork for empirically-founded, theoretically-informed, and practice-based approaches to tackling inequalities in the classical music profession. As such, it will be a significant point of reference for musicians, students, classical music administrators, policy-makers, teachers, and academics -- and anyone else who wants to make classical music more inclusive.

“The classical music industry is finally beginning to grapple the issues of diversity, equality, and justice. But what are the real issues, barriers, and stakes? With a combination of empirical data, incisive analysis, and first-person voices on the ground, this immensely important volume pushes the debate far beyond benevolent inclusion and token diversity to reckon with the societal, economic, and institutional underpinnings of 'classical music.”

Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession: New Ideas for Tackling Inequalities and Exclusions, implies that rather than wholly a new approach, diversity has long been an implicit theme of the lyric stage. Opera Now Magazine
Mari Yoshihara, Professor of American Studies, University of Hawai'i
Finally, a volume that tackles the issue of inequality in classical music. Compelling and beautifully curated, this is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of music and those who work within it. Professor Dawn Bennett, Assistant Provost, Bond University and Founder of the Employ-ability Initiative
A closed world of elite artforms, whether for performers or for audiences, is not a sustainable future for the cultural sector. How to open up the arts is a crucial question. Voices for Change in the Classical Music Profession is essential reading for anyone hoping that classical music, and indeed many other parts of the cultural world, can be open to all. Dave O'Brien, Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of Sheffield

Anna Bull is Lecturer in Education and Social Justice at the University of York. A former professional pianist and cellist, her research interests include class and gender inequalities in classical music education and staff sexual misconduct in higher education. Her monograph Class, Control, and Classical Music (2019) was joint winner of the 2020 British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Award. Anna is also a co-founder and directorof The 1752 Group, a research and campaigning organisation working to address staff sexual misconduct in higher education. She has worked with music education charity Sound Connections on youth voice in classical musiceducation, publishing a toolkit for teachers in 2022.Christina Scharff is Reader in Gender, Media, and Culture at King's College London. She is author and co-editor of several books, including Gender, Subjectivity, and Cultural Work: The Classical Music Profession (2018). Dr. Scharff's research on the classical music profession, funded by the ESRC and British Academy, has contributed to our understanding of inequalities in the cultural and creative industries, the subjective experiences of precarious work, and thepsychic life of neoliberalism. Dr. Scharff's other area of expertise is in engagements with feminism, building on her first monograph Repudiating Feminism: Young Women in a Neoliberal World (2012).Laudan Nooshin is Professor of Music at City, University London, having previously taught at Brunel University and Goldsmiths University of London, where she gained her PhD in Ethnomusicology in 1996. Laudan's research interests include creative processes in Iranian music, music and youth culture in Iran, music and gender, urban music studies, and music in Iranian cinema. She is a co-founder and currently co-Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music StudiesNetwork and she is also a Vice-President of the Royal Musical Association in which role she leads the RMA EDI Working Group.

How is the classical music industry responding to the challenges of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and other social justice movements? Is increasing attention to equity and diversity in the classical music profession over recent years leading to systemic change? In this book, scholars, activists and musicians from countries across Europe and North America analyze inequalities in the classical music profession and introduce strategies for making change. Exploring racism,class and gender inequalities, disability representation, "authenticity", changing the canon, and neoliberalism, the book brings together analyses from academics alongside contributions from musicians and industry leaders working in the classical music industry who reflect on issues of diversity andshare insights and best practices. Themes of the book include institutional legacies and possibilities for change; racial, classed and gendered inequalities and marginalised voices; and strategies for activism, whether reflective practices, informal networks, or larger organisations leading change. The book also discusses questions such as whether musical change is necessary for social change in classical music, and how activists can acknowledge structural inequalities whilst holding on to the possibility of change. Opening upthe interdisciplinary field of "classical music studies," this book lays the groundwork for empirically-founded, theoretically-informed, and practice-based approaches to tackling inequalities in the classical music profession. As such, it will be a significant point of reference for musicians,students, classical music administrators, policy-makers, teachers, and academics -- and anyone else who wants to make classical music more inclusive.

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