Creating a more inclusive early music community
EMA recognizes that:
- Early music programming, curricula, and research are mainly Euro-centric, thereby excluding and discouraging some potential participants in the early music field.
- Administrations, ensembles, and audiences fall short in representing the diverse demographics of The Americas.
- Due to historical and systemic inequities, access to early music is not readily available to everyone.
IDEA Task Force Mission
The IDEA Task Force promotes EMA’s values of diversity and inclusion by advising EMA in its planning and implementation of strategic initiatives so that the early music field can begin to represent and embrace the many different communities of The Americas.
Please Contact EMA with suggestions, comments, and/or recommendations for our work in this area.
2024-2025 IDEA Task Force Members
Thomas Carroll
Vijay Chalasani
Wei En Chan, co-chair
Joyce Chen
Karin Cuéllar-Rendón
Gus Denhard, co-chair
Keats Dieffenbach
Lindsie Katz
Michele Kennedy
JungHae Kim
Liz Vivian Loayza Herrera
Nicky Manlove, secretary
Breana McCullough
Anna Porcaro
Eduardo Quintela
Guillermo Salas Suárez
Byron Schenkman
Open Call for New IDEA Task Force Members
EMA’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Access Task Force is looking for new members to join the team! In accordance with the mission of the task force, we aim to have diverse and equitable representation on the task force itself. All persons are eligible to apply. Please view the Task Force Guidelines below before applying. We look forward to reading your application!
Applications are due September 5, 2025.
IDEA Task Force Guidelines
- The task force will comprise no more than 13 members.
- Task force members will be committed to the mission of the task force.
- Task force members will serve a 3-year term. At the end of their term, members have the option of renewing for a consecutive 3-year term.
- After the consecutive term is served, members may choose to serve 1 bonus year after which they will have to rotate-off the task force.
- After rotating-off of the task force for 1 year, former members may re-apply for task force membership.
- The full task force shall meet four times a year. Task force members are expected to participate in three out of the four full task force meetings during the year in fulfillment of their responsibilities.
- Task force members are invited and encouraged to attend EMA Board meetings (in-person or via Zoom), as non-voting participants; to participate in EMA Board training programs; and to actively participate on Board committees as full members of the following:
- Development
- Governance
- Awards & Scholarships
- Programs
- Finance
- Publications
- *Members of the EMA Board, other Board committees, and EPLC may attend IDEA task force meetings as non-voting members.
- Task force members are expected to review meeting agendas and notes in preparation for task force meetings, and especially if a past meeting was missed.
- Task force members are expected to maintain confidentiality about issues discussed in task force meetings.
- New and returning task force members and chairpersons will be selected by the IDEA Task Force application review committee, composed of the EMA Executive Director, EMA Board President, the continuing co-chair(s) of the task force, and the secretary of the task force.
- Applications will require an expression of interest to join the task force.
- Chosen applicants will be contacted by the application review committee about their potential serving on the task force, and then extended an invitation to start their term if selected. All persons are eligible to apply.
EMA Membership is not required at the time of application, however, task force members are offered a free EMA membership for the duration of their tenure on the committee, and are required to maintain an active EMA membership.
Resources
- Resources for Diversity in Early Music Repertoire
- Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture
- Indictus: giving voice to overlooked and under-represented classical music
- Inclusive Early Music
- “Solutions for Change: Anti-Racism in Early Music” by Vijay Chalasani
- Expanding the Music Theory Canon resource by Paula Maust
- Black Voices Matter: A Pledge of Anti-Racism in Choral Practice
- BIPOC Arts – database of BIPOC opera professionals
- NIMAN – National Instrumentalist Mentoring + Advancement Network
If you know of a resource or article that you believe belongs on this page, please contact EMA with your suggestion.
Related webinar recordings and performance videos can be found on the EMA Video Resources page.
Recent News
Thomas Carroll
he/himMy name is Thomas Carroll, Boston-based clarinetist and instrument builder. I hold degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, and The Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and currently perform as principal clarinet with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Teatro Nuovo, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Baroque, among others. As a researcher, my interests lie in examining the social impacts and influences of music, particularly as a means to question and reinvigorate the discussion of what or who determines the worth of a piece of music or composer.
Vijay Chalasani
he/himI am a South Asian-American performer of modern and historical violas, scholar, teaching artist, and an advocate for diversity and equity. I am a founding member of Sinfonia Spirituosa and perform with ensembles on the west coast and in Colorado, and contribute to groundbreaking research in 19th century viola playing and performing styles. One of my greatest joys is sharing repertoire and playing styles that have been lost or ignored, and I look forward to continuing to open the field of early music to those who have been historically excluded with the EMA IDEA Taskforce.
Wei En Chan
he/himWei En Chan is a countertenor from Singapore and is co-chair of Early Music America’s IDEA Task Force, developing feasible DEI strategies for implementation at EMA. From 2021-2024, he served on various EMA committees as a member of EMA’s “Emerging Professional Leadership Council.” Wei En is on faculty at Allegheny College teaching classical vocal performance, arts entrepreneurship, and music theatre performance. He earned his M.M. in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Dr. Ian Howell, and his B.M. from Ithaca College, studying with Professor Carol McAmis.
Joyce Chen
she/herI am a Taiwanese harpsichordist based in Philadelphia while pursuing a PhD in Historical Musicology at Princeton University. My research interests include acoustics, musical instruments, aesthetics, and performance practice; I am currently preparing for an online opinion piece for EMA on Asian practitioners of early music. As an avid performer, I was one of the featured soloists in the 2019 Early Music America Emerging Artist Showcase in Bloomington.
Karin Cuéllar-Rendón
she/herI am a Bolivian historical violinist and scholar interested in researching and presenting non-euro centered early music while recognizing the syncretism and connections with traditional music. I studied Historical Performance at Case Western Reserve University, Royal Academy of Music and currently pursue a PhD in Musicology at McGill University with a research focus on 19th c. performance practices in South America using as a case study the music of Peruvian composer Pedro Ximenez Abrill Tirado.
Gus Denhard
he/himI have been the Executive Director of Early Music Seattle (Formerly Early Music Guild of Seattle) since 2000 and I’m graduate of the doctoral program in early music performance at Indiana University. My performance interests include Trio Guadalevin and The Eurasia Consort – a reflection of my position that early music should include all of the world’s deep-rooted music traditions.
Keats Dieffenbach
they/them or anyI am active as violinist, violist, and curator in both modern and historical settings. I’m a recent graduate of Juilliard’s Historical Performance program and now live on unceded Abenaki land known as Southeastern Vermont. Having often felt out of place amongst the exclusionary culture of traditional classical music, I found a sense of belonging within our community of historical performers. As some of the most inventive and imaginative voices in classical music, early musicians are uniquely positioned to be leaders in pursuing equity, and I’m honored to join the IDEA Task Force in this work. I am bisexual and transmasculine, and I use any pronouns.
Lindsie Katz
she/herAs a queer, white woman and artist, I have a mission to create spaces that ignite conversation and change. I believe I have a responsibility to live authentically and demonstrate what it looks like to listen, uplift and empower each other through performance, education, and social justice. I am currently pursuing a masters in baroque violin through Juilliard’s Historical Performance program. I have found a refreshing commitment to growth in the early music community, which I want to continue fostering as a member of the IDEA Task Force, a committee dedicated to constructing a world that is inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Michele Kennedy
she/herMy career as a soloist and ensemble singer spans the ages from Medieval to Modern, with a healthy emphasis on oratorio, art song, and the early repertoire. I fervently believe that there is room on the concert stage for folks of all backgrounds, and am committed to using my voice to open doors for composers, directors, and performers deserving of wider recognition in the field. Alongside music, my greatest loves in life are Redwood groves, wide coastal vistas, and delicious home cooking, especially when enjoyed with my husband Benjamin, and our adventurous daughter, Audra May.
JungHae Kim
she/herI am a Korean-born harpsichordist living and working in San Francisco. I completed my Bachelor’s at Peabody Conservatory, a Masters in Historical Performance at Oberlin Conservatory, studied for a year with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, and completed a Performer’s Certificate at Sweelinck Conservatory. I am co-director of MusicSources Center for Historically Informed Performance in Berkeley, CA. I maintain a busy solo and chamber music performing career and teach historical keyboard, music theory, musicianship and continuo realization. I coach chamber music, give lectures, and teach masterclasses throughout the U.S., in Europe, and in Asia.
Liz Vivian Loayza Herrera
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Nicky Manlove
they/themI am the Community Engagement Director for the Tucson Girls Chorus, and previously served as the founding director of THEM Youth Ensemble, an LGBTQ+ and allied performing arts program, on the conducting faculty of the University of Arizona School of Music, and as the director of music at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ. I am also an active tenor with Boston-based chamber choir VOICES 21C.
Breana McCullough
she/herAyukîi nanêefyiiv, my name is Breana McCullough and I am a Karuk violist and scholar currently researching Indigenous representation in Early Music. I hold degrees in Performance and Woman and Gender Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I started to pursue my research at the Jacobs School of Music in the Historical Performance Institute but have since moved to Los Angeles to pursue my PhD in Ethnomusicology at UCLA. I am looking forward to contributing to the elevation of intersectional perspectives, alternative histories, and diversifying the field of Early Music with the IDEA task force.
Anna Porcaro
she/herI began a life-long engagement with early music since a professor introduced me to the lute when I was an undergraduate music student. I perform on the lute, theorbo, and guitar and I earned a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of North Carolina. I currently am a full-time administrator at Wichita State University, and previously was a music faculty member at the University of Dayton. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Lute Society of America and until last year the Wichita Chamber Chorale. I’m working to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in music and higher education wherever possible.
Eduardo Quintela
I am a Bolivian musician who has been working for years on the recovery and revaluation of indigenous American musical heritage and the interpretation of the repertoire of ancient American music preserved by indigenous peoples, addressing the aesthetic syncretism that this presents. Today, I am the coordinator of the Bolivian Musical Heritage Rescue and Revaluation project for the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia and a researcher in early American music for UNIR University and the Syncretic Ensemble.
Guillermo Salas Suárez
he/himI am a Costa Rican Baroque violinist, researcher, and arts administrator based in Columbus OH. I hold a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Case Western Reserve University and I perform with several period ensembles in the US and Latin America. I center my research on instrumental music from 18th-century Spain and its former colonies. A significant part of my work deals with bridging translation gaps between different musical communities, providing access to Historical Performance sources to English and Spanish speakers.
Byron Schenkman
they/themI am a Queer Jewish keyboard player and scholar with a background in Historical Performance and a passion for connecting people through music. My more than forty CDs include recordings on historical instruments from the National Music Museum, Vermillion, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I can also be heard in numerous online performances. Formerly co-director of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, I currently serve as Artistic Director for Sound Salon:
www.soundsalonmusic.org
