Hi everyone. This is the first blog on my website, so I hope it is of interest to you all... I will try to keep these blogs quite short, and will attempt to give you something to think about in each one.
Let's talk about Diversity in Composition. I have capitalised it because, to me, and I hope lots of you, it's a thing. We have all been brought up in Bands and Instrumental Music programs that almost exclusively featured music written by middle-aged straight white men. It never once entered my mind as a young male musician that perhaps there was good music written by women, or members of our LGBTI community, or any number of other underrepresented groups of people. It is a recent phenomenon that we have become conscious of the need to present to our young (and not so young...) musicians, a broad array of musical voices that more accurately represent our community.
I have a 10yr old daughter, and my fervent wish for her future is that she knows she can become anything she wants. She could not only find a job that hasn't been thought of yet (and isn't that crazy exciting to contemplate?) or a job that has traditionally been the domain of men. Why the hell not? I think she is a capable and smart with huge potential to make a difference in the world. Why would I not want her to be learning music in school and in the future in community music that is written by women, or LBGTI folks, or people of colour?
So...
If, like me, you have recently begun to really give some serious thought to the need for our musical voices to be more diverse, and you still want to support Australian composers, I hope you'll find that my website and my business fulfils both of those needs in good measure. I strive to present to you, my loyal and supportive customers, a catalogue that is balanced, artistically interesting, educational, and fun for musicians and audiences alike. I do this by offering music from Grade 1.5 - 5+, written by young, emerging composers, women, men, LGBTI people, Australians with many cultural backgrounds and, perhaps most excitingly, composers who you may not have heard of before.
I hope you enjoy browsing through the catalogue, and please remember to download (through the checkout for FREE) the Murphy Music Press Order Forms that correspond to the levels of groups you conduct. I am proud to partner with MMP as they represent a diverse range of composers and give equal opportunity to all who write quality music... as do I.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and I hope you find it thought-provoking. I also hope you find something in my catalogue that you can purchase to support the rapid growth in the publication of wind ensemble music from diverse voices.
See you online sometime, and thanks for stopping by!
MK