2021 – December
Submitted by – Connecting Canada – 2021 CFMTA/FCAPM Virtual Conference
Title: Loud and Clear: Piano Resources by BIPOC Women
Presenter: Olivia Adams
When we only allow mainstream repertoire list to dictate what we teach in piano lessons, we ensure a gender and racially biased narrative where the voices of Women of Colour are not present.
This workshop explores the history of gender and racial inequity in mainstream piano curriculum in Canada. By presenting over 50 years of data points from multiple conservatories we will look at why music has an intersectionality problem and what we can do about it. While BIPOC women are missing from these lists, they are not silent, they are loud and clear – composing, performing, and publishing. We simply have not been listening.
In this workshop I will present piano music and graded repertoire by Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour whose compositions are readily available for use in music studios today. The presentation will give a list of tools, resources, and methods for decolonizing the repertoire of piano studios. This workshop is intended to help equip the present-day piano teacher with information and resources so that they can continue to create a just and equitable piano studio.
Olivia Adams is a pianist, teacher, adjudicator, and music clinician based in Ottawa, Ontario. A Master’s student in Music and Feminist Studies, her work researches the intersection of race and gender in Piano Pedagogy as she advocates for increased inclusivity of music by female BIPOC composers.
