Episode 102 of Sound Expertise

When music departments focus exclusively on classical music, are they also being racially exclusionary? How can the academy move beyond its history of racism and embrace other musical genres? A conversation with Loren Kajikawa, Associate Professor of Music at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design

If you’re interested in learning more about Prof Kajikawa’s work, follow him on Twitter as @LorenKajikawa and check out:

• His essay “The Possessive Investment in Classical Music” – here’s a link to the PDF, and here’s a link to the edited collection, Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines, from which it is drawn
• His book Sounding Race in Rap Songs
• His article “’Young, Scrappy, and Hungry’: Hamilton, Hip Hop, and Race,” in American Music
• His article “Hip Hop History in the Age of Colorblindness”

Prof Kajikawa has also recommended some other stuff to check out:

• Bruno Nettl, Homeland Excursions
• Cheryl Harris’s classic essay Whiteness as Property, which inspired his chapter
•  Phillip Ewell on Music Theory’s White Racial Frame in Music Theory Online
• Michael Brodeur on classical music and racism in the Washington Post
• George Lewis on black composers in the New York Times
• Will Robin on classical music and Black Lives Matter (I swear, I didn’t tell Loren to suggest this!)

Sound Expertise is hosted by Will Robin (@seatedovation), and produced by D. Edward Davis (@warmsilence). Please subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and/or Spotify. Questions or comments? Email williamlrobin@ gmail

A written transcript of this episode is available here; many, many thanks to Andrew Dell’Antonio for volunteering to prepare transcripts for the show!

Stay tuned for Episode 103, coming next Tuesday, August 4: an interview with Megan Lavengood about timbre, ’80s pop, and the Yamaha DX7