Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Funding, Blogging, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Decolonialism, Education, History, Music, Music Education, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras, Organization, pedagogy, Post-Colonialism, Projects, Research

US Orchestras and Large Ensembles

The Orchestra as an institution is constantly evolving and taking many different forms all around the world, but like the White Male Classical Music Canon, we tend to only see canonical ensemble types and treat them, like the repertoire canon, as universal and neutral.

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Bibliography, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Decolonialism, Diversity, Education, History, Intersectionality, Music, Music Education, Orientalism, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism

Colonialism, White Supremacy, and the Logic of Exclusion of Colored Bodies in Classical Music

As I'm working on this bibliography of white supremacy and colonialism in classical music, I've come to a few things that has helped me understand the logic of exclusion of colored bodies in the field. Here are a few main takeaways. 1) Sources for information about Slave Orchestras are in formerly colonized countries or mémoires … Continue reading Colonialism, White Supremacy, and the Logic of Exclusion of Colored Bodies in Classical Music

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Ballet, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Decolonialism, Economics, Education, Global Music, History, Music, Musicians, Nationalism, Operas, Orchestras, Orientalism, pedagogy, Performance Ethics, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism, World Music

Classical Music and its Slave Orchestras

It was just five years ago that Dr. David Hunter revealed his discovery that Handel repeatedly invested in the Royal African Company, a slave trading company in Britain. A year later, Musicologist Hannah Templeton wrote that some of Leopold Mozart's patrons were likely slavers or heavily invested in plantations in the West Indies. In that … Continue reading Classical Music and its Slave Orchestras

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Cello, children, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Decolonialism, Diversity, Education, Local Culture, Louisville, Music, Music Education, New Albany, Post-Colonialism, Psychology, Racism, String Playing Careers

Made in Thailand: Composed in America

Last week on Monday I was over at mae's1 house helping her clean out her kitchen while we were listening to the late Suthep Wongkamhaeng2 (สุเทพ วงศ์กำแหง), one of mae's favorites. As I was drying dishes, a song came up in the playlist and mae said she used to sing it to me as a … Continue reading Made in Thailand: Composed in America

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, children, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Decolonialism, Diversity, Education, Global Music, History, Intersectionality, Music Education, Nationalism, Orchestras, Orientalism, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism, World Music

Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education (part 4): Immigration

This is the fourth of a nine part series about Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education. Many of the ideas and themes here build on past pieces of this series, so reading them is suggested (for series overview, visit this link. part one: Intro; part 2: Postcolonialism; part 3: Assimilation). As this piece follows up … Continue reading Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education (part 4): Immigration

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, children, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Decolonialism, Diversity, Education, Feminism, History, Literature, Music, Music Education, Musicians, Operas, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism, Teaching, Women's Studies, World Music

Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education (part 3): Assimilation

This is the third of a seven part series about Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education. Many of the ideas and themes here build on past pieces of this series, so reading them is suggested (for series overview, visit this link. part one: Intro; part 2: Postcolonialism). As this piece follows up on ideas brought … Continue reading Diversity, Inclusive Programming, and Music Education (part 3): Assimilation

Orchestra Ethiopia
Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Audiences, Cross-Cultural criticism, Decolonialism, Diversity, Education, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism

Colonialistic Diversity: Decentering Eurocentric Orchestras and Normalizing *all* Composition

As I get into the second month of #NotBeethoven tweet thread, you may have noticed a couple things. First is that I occasionally feature composers outside of the Western Art Music (WAM) tradition(s). Second, the natural consequence of this is I have to highlight Composers of Color and Non-Eurocentric Instruments and Ensembles.1 A couple of … Continue reading Colonialistic Diversity: Decentering Eurocentric Orchestras and Normalizing *all* Composition

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Decolonialism, Diversity, Nationalism, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism, Women's Studies, World Music

White Males Orchestras and America’s Other Orchestras

A couple years ago I discovered a series of pieces title "America's Other Orchestras" at Arab America and it helped me to solidify some thoughts I've been having about how we have discussions, and the narratives we create, about Orchestras and Classical Music. These are thoughts that were percolating at least since I first wrote … Continue reading White Males Orchestras and America’s Other Orchestras

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Funding, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Decolonialism, Diversity, Orchestra Reform, Orientalism, Post-Colonialism, Race, Racism, Sexism

Diversity in Classical Music vs Diversity of Classical Music

Diversity in Classical Music has been a hot topic lately, especially given the recent announcements of upcoming seasons of organizations and the pushback many are getting recently. With the introduction of the Women Composer Database and the Composer Diversity Project, therea a push for aggregating disparate lists of composers to decenter the White Male Canon … Continue reading Diversity in Classical Music vs Diversity of Classical Music

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, History, Rock, State of the Arts, Venues

Classical Music discovers Clubbing just as Clubbing Declines

There have been a number of recent pieces about Classical Music and Clubbing over the past few months and a couple of hefty dissertations about the "new" phenomenon and the "Indie Classical Scene." I've been meaning to write about this for some time (well, years, actually) as I've been playing clubs for a couple of … Continue reading Classical Music discovers Clubbing just as Clubbing Declines

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Diversity, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras, Resources, State of the Arts

Orchestras in the US formed since 2000

Here's a link to my list of Symphony Orchestras and Chamber Orchestras in the US formed since 2000. It’s by no means an exhaustive list and should be viewed as a “work in progress” (much as my similar list of US Opera organizations formed since 2000). Currently, the list includes full sized Symphony Orchestras as … Continue reading Orchestras in the US formed since 2000

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Federal Music Project, Fragmentation, Nationalism, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras

All Orchestras are Ethnic Orchestras

One of the things that is striking about the early accounts of Classical Music is how provincial it was. Until the 20th century we didn't really conceive of Classical Music as one unified field. In other words, there was a lot of diversity in the genres and repertoire performed. This coincided with what we could … Continue reading All Orchestras are Ethnic Orchestras

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Education

Classical Music Crisis is the “Tip of the Iceberg”

I've been reading Reginald Nettel's "The Orchestra in England: A Social History" (Yay, Half Price Books!) as some of my latest posts have been focusing on how the orchestra has changed and evolved throughout history. For many of us in the field, Orchestras (and to a lesser extent, Operas and Ballets) are symbolic of (and … Continue reading Classical Music Crisis is the “Tip of the Iceberg”

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ Aesthetics, American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Arts Funding, Audiences, Business, Economics, Education

Musical Thoughts, Reflections, Questions, and other Ephemera…

As most of you know, I've not been blogging nearly as much as in the past--I go through periods like this. This doesn't mean I haven't been writing/thinking/analyzing things. I was just looking at all the recent drafts I've been working on and decided rather than trying to finish one I'll just post some of … Continue reading Musical Thoughts, Reflections, Questions, and other Ephemera…

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Funding, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Diversity, Economics

“…but, does that orchestra make any money?” and Life Cycles of Orchestras

One of frequent questions I'm asked when I point out the immense growth of opera companies, orchestras, and classical music ensembles over the past few decades is what their financial model is and whether that translates to making a livable wage or even whether that translates into the organization being sustainable and able to stay … Continue reading “…but, does that orchestra make any money?” and Life Cycles of Orchestras

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ Aesthetics, American Classical Music History, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Diversity, Fragmentation, History, Non-Western Cello, Orchestra Reform, Orchestras, Post-Colonialism

The Other Orchestras (part 1): Ethnic Orchestras

There's such a problem with Eurocentric terminology when discussing analogues to a Western institution found in other cultures. That's no different than with orchestras. I've used the phrase "Ethnic Orchestras" in reference to large ensembles modeled after the European-styled Orchestra (e.g. Traditional Chinese Orchestras), but at the same time, some of these large ensembles are … Continue reading The Other Orchestras (part 1): Ethnic Orchestras

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Economics

The many types of Orchestras…and how they have evolved

Since I've been collecting data on Orchestras in the US I've come across a bewildering number of types. Contrary to the idea that a Modern Orchestra is simply the culmination of an early-19th/mid-20th century Anglo-European styled large ensemble designed to play repertoire that requires large forces, the orchestra never stopped evolving. My previous post was … Continue reading The many types of Orchestras…and how they have evolved

Jon Silpayamanant - โจนาทาน ศิลปยามานันท์ Aesthetics, American Classical Music History, Arts Education, Classical Music Crisis Crisis, Cross-Cultural criticism, Culture, Diversity

Classical Music is alive because it’s constantly evolving

In a recent piece by Bill Zuckerman, which is ostensibly a defense of the state of Classical Music not being so dire as some Crisis folks are saying, we get the explanation that many of the types of values taught are the focus of music school instruction.  While I don't necessarily disagree with that, I … Continue reading Classical Music is alive because it’s constantly evolving