CCSD Member Meeting: Anti-Racism in Choral Music

Join us for an important educational discussion, followed by brief updates, election of a Board member candidate, and a short sing. 

RSVP via Chorus Connection or email cmanifold@sdsings.org. The meeting will be recorded for later viewing by those unable to attend in real time.

Educational topic: Anti-Racism in Choral Music

Anti-racist does not equal not-racist. Join us for a panel of choral musicians with expertise in teaching culturally responsive music. Panelists will discuss approaches and strategies for developing culturally responsive choirs, as well as ways to use choral music to make the world a more racially just place.

Moderator:Kevin Psolka-Green, Music educator, Jerabek Elementary School, San Diego Unified School District; San Diego Master Chorale Board Secretary

Panelists:

André de Quadros, Boston University College of Fine Arts Professor of Music, Music Education Affiliate faculty, African Studies Center, Center for the Study of Asia, Global Health Initiative, and the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies & Civilizations. Pronouns: He/Him/His

Dr. André de Quadros is a professor of music at Boston University, where he holds affiliations in African, Asian, and Muslim studies, and in prison education. He leads the following choirs: Common Ground Voices (Israeli-Palestinian-international), the Manado State University Choir (Indonesia), the Muslim Choral Ensemble (Sri Lanka), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Countries Youth Choir, and VOICES 21C. He co-leads Common Ground Voices / La Frontera(US-Mexico) with Emilie Amrein from the  University of San Diego, with whom he collaborates in the leadership of The Choral Commons. As a scholar, conductor, educator, and human rights activist, his professional work has taken him to the most diverse ensembles and settings in more than forty countries, spanning professional ensembles, and including projects with prisons, psychosocial rehabilitation, refugees and asylum-seekers, and victims of torture and trauma. He is the artistic director of the London International Music Festival, and Conducting 21C: Musical Leadership for a New Century at the Eric Ericson International Choral Centre in Sweden. He is the editor of the following series: Cantemus (earthsongs), Music of Asia and the Pacific (earthsongs) Salamu Aleikum – Choral Music of the Muslim World (earthsongs), and Songs of the World (Hinshaw). Among his many publications is his 2019 book, Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective, published by Routledge.

Julia Shaw, associate professor of music in music education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Shaw was previously an assistant professor at Ohio State University. She has served as conductor for the Chicago Children’s Choir, Indianapolis Children’s Choir, and Zionsville Community Schools (Teacher of the Year, 2007). An active choral clinician, her recent guest conducting engagements have included the Organization of American Kodály Educators National Youth Choir, Midwest Kodály Music Educators of America Children’s Honor Choir, and Kentucky All-State Junior High Treble Honor Choir. She has presented interest sessions at national, regional, and state conferences of the American Choral Directors’ Association, National Association for Music Education, and Organization of American Kodály Educators. A certified Kodály educator, she has been an instructor for the summer Kodály institutes of DePaul University, James Madison University, and the University of Central Missouri.

Shaw’s research on culturally responsive pedagogy, socio-cultural issues in music education, and urban education has been honored with the Society for Research in Music Education’s Research Grant and the American Educational Research Association’s Outstanding Early Career Paper in Music Education award.

Her publications appear in the Journal of Research in Music Education,Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education,Music Education Research,Arts Education Policy Review, Choral Journal, and Music Educators Journal. She has presented research at the International Research in Music Education Conference, NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, and Symposium on Music Teacher Education. She earned a Ph.D. in music education from Northwestern University, an M.M. in choral conducting from Butler University, and a B.M.E. from Indiana University.

Robin Withers, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Center Program Specialist for Teaching and Learning; Martin Luther King Jr Community Choir San Diego Board Member. Pronouns: They/Theirs.

Dr. Robin Withers, Ed.D., has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Northern Colorado. Her 35+ years in education spans from elementary to higher education and from the classroom to administration. Currently as a Program Specialist in Teaching & Learning for Advancement Via Individual Determination, a non-profit whose mission is to prepare all students for college & career readiness and success in a global society,  she coaches colleges, universities, and secondary school districts to changes lives by helping schools shift to a more equitable, student-centered approach.  As a National Staff Developer she facilitates professional learning in the areas of culturally responsive teaching, culturally proficient leadership, critical race theory, and culturally responsive instructional practices.   Dr. Withers believes that abolitionist teaching and education is a moral imperative and passionately works toward this realization.