I know I’ve seen composers of color complain about being “typecast” in an “ethnic role” for commissions but what happens if we start addressing the elephant in the room the fact there’s the *assumption there’s a neutral and universal type of composition* at all?

I mean, if calls for composition or a commission were to honestly state, say, “we want a piece for and ethnic European Orchestra” rather than for “full Symphony Orchestra” then that may go a long way in showing the implicitly exclusionary way we designate what composition even...

...means. And maybe composers will see the lie that is a music ecosystem that privileges a white European art form over the dozens of other compositional styles, traditions, and schools that exist in the world. I wonder if that may also force us to question why composing for...

...white European styled ensembles should be valued more highly than others. As well as how the cultural, financial/funding, and educational systems in addition to infrastructural welfare tends to favor one panethnic art form over others.

I mean, I get it—no one wants to be pigeonholed as a composer. But hasn’t the system already done that by valuing one ethnic group’s performing arts over others?

This thread explores definitional exclusion as it relates to what we mean by "Music Composition." https://twitter.com/Silpayamanant/status/1298999822117154821