A university music school of the near future should include a much wider range of content and ways of teaching. Only recently have some female composers been recognized and taught in classes/played in music groups, but these women are almost all white and most likely upper-middle class women. University music education should include many more composers of marginalized groups. There should be a bigger effort to bring compositions by black people to the forefront of music education to be learned and appreciated. It should include music that might not be considered ‘traditional’ classical music or that some might not see as ‘authentic’, which tend to be terms that people use to excuse the fact that they are being discriminatory in choosing which composers or artists they want to draw attention to.
In terms of music theory, there needs to be much more education of different musical ‘rules’ and structures other than white-centered European musical standards. These lessons need to not just be one or two lessons within a semester long class, but rather given equal attention and respect as Euro-centric music theory ideals. In terms of music history, European music history needs to not be considered as ‘the main’ history. Non-European music history needs to be included in all the different time periods of music history, and not just as a ‘other’ category.
In terms of my instrument, the viola does not have that many super well known pieces, at least in comparison to the violin. Of all the well-known pieces amongst violists, I have only come across one by a female composer (Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata), and all the rest are by white men. Universities need to commit to buying works by non-white composers and teaching them to their students. Right now there seems to be just a few ‘go-to’ composers, who are all white men, and that needs to change.