Things you can do to promote composer diversity right now.
I’ve been looking for resources to help promote and increase composer diversity, so here’s some ideas of what you can do to help if you’re in any one of these situations. (If none of these describe you, get creative ;)
I’ll keep on updating this as I find more ideas or people recommend things to me, so check back if you’ve ran out of things to do.
I’m a composer
Join Free the Work and find people to follow, get to know, collaborate with, support etc. They recommend you a ‘daily five’ profiles to check out to make it even easier for you.
Take the Harvard implicit bias test.
Join the Composer Diversity Collective and be part of their network - it’s there for underrepresented composers, but also for people who are committed to increasing diverse opportunity in their hiring and mentoring practices.
Do something like Christophe Beck and use your skills to help and inspire others who might not see themselves as composers. Go into state schools where kids don’t have rich parents to buy them £££’s worth of gear and private lessons and show them what it’s like being a composer or producer or working for film and show them it’s a viable career option for them.
London Music Masters is doing good things in the music education system, and it’s likely that any music hub or music service local to you is also currently working hard to get kids learning music in schools that are facing funding cutbacks from the government. Ask music hubs and schools what you can do to help, even if it’s just a one-off workshop here and there.
I’m a concert programmer
Join Free the Work and find people to follow, get to know, collaborate with, support etc. They recommend you a ‘daily five’ profiles to check out to make it even easier for you.
Take the Harvard implicit bias test.
Use the advice from the Institute for Composer Diversity when you’re putting together your programme to inform your decisions. They’ve got advice for if you’re focusing on historical or living composers, and for varying amounts of works per season for different styles. They’ve also got a database you can search for works or for composers.
I’m a filmmaker
Join Free the Work and find people to follow, get to know, collaborate with, support etc. They recommend you a ‘daily five’ profiles to check out to make it even easier for you.
Take the Harvard implicit bias test.
Have a look at the Institute for Composer Diversity Database, find a composer to listen to, and if you like them, follow them and find out what they’re creating.
If you like someone’s work but they haven't composed for film or theatre before, ask them if they want to! Maybe they’ve always wanted to but nobody has given them the opportunity yet. Michael Abels has this exact story, and now he’s doing fantastic work with the Composer Diversity Collective.
Use your skills to help and inspire others who might not see themselves as filmmakers. Go into state schools where kids don’t have rich parents to buy them £££’s worth of gear and show them what it’s like being a director or producer or working for film and show them it’s a viable career option for them.
I’m a teacher
Take the Harvard implicit bias test, and watch Channel 4’s The School that Tried to End Racism. Try not to cry. Fail.
Find a musician, composer, or producer you admire who’s from an underrepresented background and invite them to chat to your students about what they do, what sort of projects they work on, why they love music, and anything else the kids want to ask them. If you’re stuck for someone to ask, ask your local music service or music hub if they can recommend anyone.
Have a look at the work that Chineke! and Tomorrow’s Warriors are doing. If you’re near London, take students to a concert, and let them know about the junior ensembles and workshops they run.
The Musicians Union is running a campaign to Diversify the ABRSM grades - get involved.
When you’re putting together a school concert programme, try using the advice from the Institute for Composer Diversity. They’ve got advice for different types of ensembles on there too. They’ve also got a database you can search for works or for composers.
I’m a decision-making executive
Take the Harvard implicit bias test.
Read Creativity Inc, find out how they do notes and inclusive feedback, and how they develop projects and keep them on track.
If you look around your next art-altering, decision-making meeting and there’s a severe imbalance of gender, race, or age, ask yourself why that is. Find people who work for you who are comfortable sharing their thoughts and who can balance out that imbalance, and get them in the meeting and make sure they know they can voice their opinion. I’m not just talking about bridging people on for projects where they fit the target market - they’re not your focus group, they’re your employees with great ideas and a different view of the world than you - that’s what they bring to the table, and that’s what will make your company better, smarter, and more innovative. If there’s not enough people in your company different to you, hire them! If your big meeting room is already represented by people from different genders, races, and backgrounds, fantastic - make sure everyone feels like they can speak their minds (again, read Creativity Inc)
I don’t think a lack of diversity is an issue
Finally, Here’s a carrd that’s full of more resources to help the BLM movement, just in case you haven’t seen it yet - see what you can do to help.
Have I missed anything that’s worth mentioning or doing? Almost definitely, yes.
Comment it below and I’ll see if I can include it somewhere.
All the best,
Tim