乐播传媒

According to Missy Strong, host of the “Music Ed Amplified” podcast and general and vocal teacher at Fleetwood Elementary School in Mount Laurel, N.J., hearing the phrase 鈥渕usic history professor鈥� often conjures up a picture of a 鈥渕iddle aged, CIS gender Christian white guy鈥� for her. 听

And as she told her audience on a recent episode, that鈥檚 described her听guest,听Trinity鈥檚听Professor of Music and Department Chair Mark Peters, Ph.D. So why was she interviewing him, particularly for a podcast generally focused on elementary school educators?听听

鈥淲hen I heard about听the听transformation听Dr.听Peters听is听doing in his classes, I wanted to know more, and I wanted to ask him questions, and I wanted to feel some hope for what is happening in undergraduate听music education听when it comes听to music history,鈥� she said.听鈥淏ecause I haven鈥檛 felt听much hope in the last couple of years.鈥�听

She added, 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to say that my talk with听Mark inspired me by encouraging me that there are programs where professors are making real change,听and that there are intentional efforts to see more diversity in the field.鈥�听

Over the course of the hour-long podcast, Strong and Peters talked about a range of topics, including听how he has moved on from the story that has most often been told to undergrad students in music history, which is that of European white men. Instead, he strives to tell the story of all human persons. Peters also shared his thoughts about how history is not a record of what happened in the past鈥攔ather it鈥檚 the stories we decide to tell about the past; why he doesn鈥檛 use textbooks in his music appreciation courses; and how he wants students in his general music courses to think differently about music in their lives, rather than focus on technical and classical terms.听

鈥淲e must learn to give a voice to those who have not had it in the past,鈥澨齭aid Peters.听

to hear the entire episode, “Telling a Different Story: A New Approach to Music History.”