Anti-Oppression Statement
As a player and arranger, i strive to take into account as much context as i can from the culture in which the music i am making originated. This is particularly true for - among many others - folk, country, funk, rock, hip-hop, soul, blues, swing, bebop and post-bop. All these styles of music have their origins in Black American culture, and subsequently many attempts were made to erase or separate that heritage from the music. It is a goal of mine to play and teach music with its heritage in mind at all times, no matter where it comes from.
As an educator, these issues take on another level of complexity. Mainstream music education, in all the forms it takes today, has been beneficial to some and extremely detrimental to others. While my most idealistic view is that music education should be an asset and an important part of everybody's lives, whether they pursue music as a career or not - the reality is that many music education systems are intertwined with systems of oppression in a multitude of ways. When many music students finish their education, their relationship with music ends up much worse than it was when they started; i aim to actively challenge and change this.
My objective as a music teacher is to create a learning environment free from these oppressive atmospheres, in which students can flourish in any direction they need or want without fear or trauma - while also keeping what i believe to be the best aspects of what i learned from my own musical education.
Despite my best efforts, i acknowledge that no matter how much work i do to overcome my unconscious biases, they will always exist to some degree. And no matter how much i strive to learn about music and the world, there will always be massive gaps in my knowledge, and wisdom which i cannot access due to my privilege. If you do not want to take that risk with me, and would rather work with somebody who occupies an identity which i do not, i can do my best to put you in touch with such a person from my professional network.
Last updated April 15, 2022