Faculty Statement: Natalie Wilson
Dear Circle of Inequity,
I am so deeply grateful to all of you for this process. Yesterday’s listening forum was profoundly affecting, as well as deftly organized and executed. Listening to students’ accounts, my heart broke for all the pain the school has allowed to be inflicted, and I recognized my own complicity in failing to demand changes. For that, and any other ways I have caused students pain by action or inaction, I sincerely apologize. I will do better. I have several things I will be bringing up to the administration that need to change regarding decision making at the school, particularly in regards to faculty meetings (e.g. how students’ reports of problems are handled, who is invited to second year, and who is included in showcase/scene night).
As for my own course, I have come up with the following changes:
Song assignments: I will incorporate more new songs into my curriculum by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women composers, particularly current ones. Composers I have already contacted to buy their music include (more to come):
In addition, every song I assign students to learn, part of the assignment will be learning a bit about who the composers are. This will serve as a bit of musical theater history/appreciation, and also help develop a greater understanding of musical style, and how different composers structure their music.
Masterclasses: For my 2nd year masterclasses, I will bring in more BIPOC composers and music directors. Rona Siddiqui has already agreed to be one of my guests this year.
Learning Disability Accommodation: One benefit of the pandemic and needing to teach online is that I am learning lots of new tools. A significant portion of the music theory program this year will be asynchronous learning, using an online platform. This will give each student the ability to move forward more at their own pace, using a variety of different learning modalities (audio, visual), and also get more individual feedback. I hope this will be of value for people with different learning needs, but I also know it’s not specifically tailored for that. I welcome any input on specific types of accommodation that might be helpful for theory classes, and I can do more research.
I look forward to hearing any feedback on these plans and ideas, and any other changes you would like to see in the music theory curriculum.
I am so humbled and impressed by all of you. I have never been so brave and I wish I had had your courage at times in my own life when I needed to speak to power.
In solidarity,
Natalie Wilson