January 22, 2023

#99. Historical Bias Against Popular Music Education Part I with Matt Edwards and Jacqlyn Zito-Edwards

56 minutes

This week on A Voice and Beyond, we have a very special episode lined up for you. This is part one of a two-part interview in which we welcome Matt Edwards and Jacqlyn Zito-Edwards, who have been working together and conducting ongoing research into the roots of academic bias against popular music.

Jacqlyn is an adjunct assistant professor of voice for the musical theatre program at Shenandoah Conservatory and serves on the faculty at the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute. Matt has been working at Shenandoah University since 2010 as an Associate Professor, within the Voice and Musical Theatre departments. He is also the Coordinator of Musical Theatre Voice and Artistic Director of CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute.

In this fascinating episode, Matt and Jacqlyn delve into the history of the classism and racism that was evident in American society during the late 19th century and into most of the 20th century. Matt and Jacqlyn explain that it is important to understand the history in order to unravel why the bias against popular music styles continues to perpetuate in higher education. Matt and Jacqlyn share with us that these biases have been handed down generationally, and contribute to the continued delay in expanding popular music education in higher education.

Matt and Jacqlyn are advocating for change in the status quo of music education programs and believe that as a voice community, it is time to create change in the cultural hierarchy in voice education. As they explain, it’s not a battlefield of pedagogical approaches, but of trying to gain a better understanding of the world we all work in now. This is a not to be missed interview with Matt and Jacqlyn.

Please remember this is part one of a two-part interview with Matt Edwards and Jacqlyn Zito-Edwards. Next week, we will be proudly celebrating our 100th episode release and part two of this interview will go live the week following our special 100th episode.

In this Episode
1:16 - Introducing Matt and Jacqlyn
11:27 - Transitioning from classical to teaching CCM
26:34 - Bias in Popular music in High Education
29:00 - The inspiration behind their research
40:13 - Theodore Presser’s impact on music publishing
51:42 - Music enrolment is falling

Find Matt & Jackie Online