The traditional concert band/orchestra model in many public high schools often passively presents content regarding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC students in these ensembles bring a wealth of experience from their communities. Meanwhile, BIPOC face barriers including invalidation and a diminished sense of representation in these ensembles. This qualitative investigation explored how BIPOC students in a public 9-12 high school district experienced social, pedagogical, curricular practices in their school’s concert band/orchestra. Guided by critical race theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, and employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study addressed the lack of inclusivity and representation experienced by BIPOC in concert band and orchestra, and gaps in literature surrounding BIPOC in these performing groups. Analysis of semi structured interviews with six current BIPOC enrolled in their high school’s concert band/orchestra yielded five findings. The research questions focused on social, pedagogical, and curricular practices, and cultural/ethnic representation, and the participants answers revealed (1) the lack of BIPOC representation in guest clinicians and selected repertoire, (2) rehearsals are teacher driven with limited student input, (3) the ensemble environment reflects a White/Western (minority) with an ethnic majority, (4) there are limited opportunities to explore non-Western ethnic ensembles, and music and (5) concert band and orchestra are enjoyable; however, the experience could be improved. The findings of the current research study suggest that changes need to be made in both the ways that traditional public school-based concert band and orchestra programs are taught, and how underrepresented students are sustained in their educational experiences.
Keywords: culturally responsive music pedagogy, critical race theory, BIPOC, underrepresented, concert band, orchestra
","abstract_html":"<p>The traditional concert band/orchestra model in many public high schools often passively presents content regarding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC students in these ensembles bring a wealth of experience from their communities. Meanwhile, BIPOC face barriers including invalidation and a diminished sense of representation in these ensembles. This qualitative investigation explored how BIPOC students in a public 9-12 high school district experienced social, pedagogical, curricular practices in their school’s concert band/orchestra. Guided by critical race theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, and employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study addressed the lack of inclusivity and representation experienced by BIPOC in concert band and orchestra, and gaps in literature surrounding BIPOC in these performing groups. Analysis of semi structured interviews with six current BIPOC enrolled in their high school’s concert band/orchestra yielded five findings. The research questions focused on social, pedagogical, and curricular practices, and cultural/ethnic representation, and the participants answers revealed (1) the lack of BIPOC representation in guest clinicians and selected repertoire, (2) rehearsals are teacher driven with limited student input, (3) the ensemble environment reflects a White/Western (minority) with an ethnic majority, (4) there are limited opportunities to explore non-Western ethnic ensembles, and music and (5) concert band and orchestra are enjoyable; however, the experience could be improved. The findings of the current research study suggest that changes need to be made in both the ways that traditional public school-based concert band and orchestra programs are taught, and how underrepresented students are sustained in their educational experiences.</p> <p><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><em>culturally responsive music pedagogy, critical race theory, BIPOC, underrepresented, concert band, orchestra</em></p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Smith, Matthew J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andrea Disque","Chad Walls"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:34Z","subjects":["Culturally responsive music pedagogy","critical race theory","BIPOC","underrepresented","concert band","orchestra","Education","Music","Social Justice"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/15","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andrea Disque","Chad Walls"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Smith, Matthew J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Culturally responsive music pedagogy","critical race theory","BIPOC","underrepresented","concert band","orchestra","Education","Music","Social Justice"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/15"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The traditional concert band/orchestra model in many public high schools often passively presents content regarding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC students in these ensembles bring a wealth of experience from their communities. Meanwhile, BIPOC face barriers including invalidation and a diminished sense of representation in these ensembles. This qualitative investigation explored how BIPOC students in a public 9-12 high school district experienced social, pedagogical, curricular practices in their school’s concert band/orchestra. Guided by critical race theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, and employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study addressed the lack of inclusivity and representation experienced by BIPOC in concert band and orchestra, and gaps in literature surrounding BIPOC in these performing groups. Analysis of semi structured interviews with six current BIPOC enrolled in their high school’s concert band/orchestra yielded five findings. The research questions focused on social, pedagogical, and curricular practices, and cultural/ethnic representation, and the participants answers revealed (1) the lack of BIPOC representation in guest clinicians and selected repertoire, (2) rehearsals are teacher driven with limited student input, (3) the ensemble environment reflects a White/Western (minority) with an ethnic majority, (4) there are limited opportunities to explore non-Western ethnic ensembles, and music and (5) concert band and orchestra are enjoyable; however, the experience could be improved. The findings of the current research study suggest that changes need to be made in both the ways that traditional public school-based concert band and orchestra programs are taught, and how underrepresented students are sustained in their educational experiences.
Keywords: culturally responsive music pedagogy, critical race theory, BIPOC, underrepresented, concert band, orchestra
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring the Experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color in High School Concert Bands and Orchestral Ensembles"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andrea Disque","Chad Walls"],"dc:creator":["Smith, Matthew J"],"dc:description.abstract":["The traditional concert band/orchestra model in many public high schools often passively presents content regarding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC students in these ensembles bring a wealth of experience from their communities. Meanwhile, BIPOC face barriers including invalidation and a diminished sense of representation in these ensembles. This qualitative investigation explored how BIPOC students in a public 9-12 high school district experienced social, pedagogical, curricular practices in their school’s concert band/orchestra. Guided by critical race theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, and employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study addressed the lack of inclusivity and representation experienced by BIPOC in concert band and orchestra, and gaps in literature surrounding BIPOC in these performing groups. Analysis of semi structured interviews with six current BIPOC enrolled in their high school’s concert band/orchestra yielded five findings. The research questions focused on social, pedagogical, and curricular practices, and cultural/ethnic representation, and the participants answers revealed (1) the lack of BIPOC representation in guest clinicians and selected repertoire, (2) rehearsals are teacher driven with limited student input, (3) the ensemble environment reflects a White/Western (minority) with an ethnic majority, (4) there are limited opportunities to explore non-Western ethnic ensembles, and music and (5) concert band and orchestra are enjoyable; however, the experience could be improved. The findings of the current research study suggest that changes need to be made in both the ways that traditional public school-based concert band and orchestra programs are taught, and how underrepresented students are sustained in their educational experiences.
Keywords: culturally responsive music pedagogy, critical race theory, BIPOC, underrepresented, concert band, orchestra
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/15"],"dc:subject":["Culturally responsive music pedagogy","critical race theory","BIPOC","underrepresented","concert band","orchestra","Education","Music","Social Justice"],"dc:title":["Exploring the Experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color in High School Concert Bands and Orchestral Ensembles"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:21:34Z"}