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.
2022-2023 IDEA Task Force Members
Thomas Carroll
Vijay Chalasani*
Isaiah Chapman
Joyce Chen*
Karin Cuéllar-Rendón*
Gus Denhard
Keats Dieffenbach
Lindsie Katz
JungHae Kim
Breana McCullough
Patricia Ann Nealy
Ian Pomerantz
Anna Porcaro
Job Salazar Fonseca
*EMA Board Member
Read task force member bios below.
Derek Tam, Ex Officio Member
Please Contact EMA with suggestions, comments, and/or recommendations for our work in this area.
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.
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- The task force will be comprised of no more than 13 members.
- Members will be committed to the mission of the task force.
- Members will serve a 2-year term. There is an optional third year of membership contingent upon invitation by the task force co-chairs and EMA executive director. After rotating off of the task force for 1 year, former members may reapply. Task force members who have rotated off the task force are encouraged to mentor new entering members of the task force.
- Task force members and chairpersons will be selected by the IDEA Task Force application review committee, comprising of the EMA executive director, EMA board president, the continuing co-chair(s) of the task force, and two continuing task force members. The representing task force members will be voted on by the members of the task force.
- Full task force meetings will take place every other month: October, December, February, and April. As a task force member, you are expected to participate in three out of the four full task force meetings during the year.
- Task force members are expected to be a part of at least one subcommittee where they will contribute towards one or more projects over the course of the year.
- Members are expected to:
- Attend at least 7 out of 10 subcommittee meetings and 3 out of 4 full task force meetings each year.
- Actively participate in task force meetings and online check-ins on a regular basis, including the designated IDEA Task Force Slack channel.
- Review meeting agendas and notes to prepare for task force meetings and if a meeting is missed.
- Maintain confidentiality about issues discussed in task force meetings.
- Members will be selected for vacant spots through an application process that will be based on an expression of interest to join the task force. Applicants will be communicated with in a timely manner regarding their application and 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 encouraged to maintain a current EMA membership so that they are privy to EMA’s various activities. All task force members are offered a free EMA membership for the duration of their tenure on the committee.
- Members are invited to attend EMA board meetings (in person or via Zoom), as observers; to participate in EMA Board training programs; and/or to actively participate on select Board committees as full members.
- Members of the EMA board and other committees can attend IDEA Task Force meetings but are not permitted to act as voting members.
Thomas Carroll
he/him
My 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/him
I 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.
Isaiah Chapman
he/him
My name is Isaiah Chapman, and I am a violist—baroque and modern—and archivist, interested in bringing more awareness to African diasporic Early Music practices that may have directly, or indirectly, influenced music in the Americas. I hold degrees from the University of North Texas, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and am currently at Simmons University studying Library and Information Science, Archives Management. I reside in the Greater Boston area, and along with my research interests, hope to push more inclusivity within the realm of Early Music along with the IDEA task force.
Joyce Chen
I 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
I 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/him
I 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 Diefffenbach
they/them or any
I 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/her
As 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.
JungHae Kim
she/her
I 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.
Breana McCullough
she/her
Ayukîi 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.
Patricia Ann Neely
she/her
I am an early bowed string player who has specialized in viola da gamba, violone, vielle, and baroque bass. I received a B.A. in music from Vassar College and an M.F.A. in Historical Performance from Sarah Lawerence College. I’ve performed with many early music ensembles including Sequentia, Rheinische Kantorei Köln, Smithsonian Chamber Players and Viol Consort, Washington Bach Consort, and I am a founding member of Parthenia and Abendmusik. I have taught at Amherst Early Music, The Viola da Gamba Society Conclaves and Wagner College, Vassar College, and The Brearley School. I am also on the board of The Viola da Gamba Society of America.
Ian Pomerantz
he/him or they/them
I am a friend and colleague to musical communities around the world. As an activist for tolerance and inclusivity, I see music as an essential element in bridging communities and addressing the social divides that rank among the major challenges of our time. I am also a professional bass-baritone and scholar of Jewish music and baroque vocal music, and my musical life resounds with French baroque opera, Yiddish art song, and Sephardic lullabies. I enjoy illuminating interfaith perspectives in Historical Performance and making beautiful music in the HIP and Jewish communities around the world.
Anna Porcaro
she/her
My name is Anna Porcaro (she/her). I 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.
Job Salazar Fonseca
I was a member of the Monterrey Symphony Orchestra (OSUANL) and Opera Nuevo León, and previously on the Violin Faculty at the Music Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL). I’ve performed at the Chamber Music Festival of Nuevo León, Festival Internacional de Música Mexicana, CONARTE, KBYU Radio, Radio Nuevo León. I currently perform with The Unitas Ensemble, Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Crescendo, American Baroque Orchestra, Portland Bach Experience and The Halfmoon. I’m on the faculty at The Powers Music School. I hold degrees from BYU-Idaho, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee and The Longy School of Music of Bard College.