All inclusive Social Justice

OUR BEGINNING

When I started Mosaic String Academy in January of 2019, I was fulfilling a long-time dream of providing an environment for learning classical music that was based upon equality, collaboration and positivity - words not commonly associated with our understanding of classical music. I naturally assumed all would feel welcome, that my approach was much like me as a human: warm, inviting, non-racist, inspired... I was woefully ignorant within my white privilege.

In Alexis, Mirabai & Bryce I found collaborators and teachers of classical and folk music who were just as passionate, devoted and not tied to the pillars of elitism that have upheld the western world (as we know it) of Eurocentric, mostly white, traditional music.

I chose the name Mosaic because of this mission, as a coming together of many colors and traditions. Upon getting established, our focus has been on our immediate environment; creating an open, warm, loving, non-judgmental space for our new and existing students. 

For the majority of our lives, as performers and teachers of classical and traditional folk music, through our white privilege we have been complicit in erasing the history of Black lives, not seeing, hearing nor teaching the important works of Black composers, Composers of color and Female composers and in effect, silencing their voices. 

Our individual journeys with music education did not include history nor music of Black Composers and Musicians, nor any discussion of how their music enriched the classical music world. While this erasure may have been implicit, it does not excuse or diminish the severity of its outcome.

OUR MISSION MOVING FORWARD

The Black Lives Matter movement has jolted us awake with the realization that we have not even remotely scratched the surface of the work that we have yet to do in this mission.

We have begun a long term collective project to gather and share repertoire for our students that represents true diversity in music, while avoiding tokenism. 

We will be bringing music and culture to light which deserves to be heard, played and experienced, while lifting up marginalized voices. 

And we feel we also owe it to our students, to teach them with a richness and quality of music that presents manifold cultures and color, and to establish this as a new norm. 

We are attending anti-racist trainings, lead by Black leaders, to learn more about the erasure of Black perfomers in classical & folk music, to begin to recognize and unweave the intricate threads of systemic racism in music education.  We are working to create our own songbook of classical and folk repertoire, complete with historical references, highlighting BIPOC performers and contributors, both deceased and alive!  who enrich our cultural heritage.

This is something we should have been doing all along. Normalizing the incorporation of Black artists' music should not be a novel concept. 

We are committed to this continuing mission which involves the never-ending process of educating and challenging ourselves. We will uphold this mission as the very fabric of Mosaic String Academy.