Leading with Our Values
Among the many privileges of serving the College Music Society has been the opportunity to represent our membership during a monthly meeting with my counterparts at the Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for Music Theory, American Musicological Society, and the Society for American Music. In November, we traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to share a stage at the Joint Annual Meeting of the AMS, SEM, and SMT so that we might unpack the challenges of welcoming a growing contingent faculty, reimagine the future of conferences, and reflect upon the joys and struggles of service. We, too, hoped to model collegiality that might benefit music and music in higher education writ large.
What I’ve come to learn through these experiences with the presidents – Steve Swayne, Tomie Hahn, Michael Buchler, and Daniel Goldmark – is that they are leading change from within their disciplines in innovative, authentic, and sometimes hard-fought ways. For me, they have become exemplars for how we might navigate change within our own institutions as we realign our post-pandemic business models and confront the impacts of rising labor costs, soaring inflation rates, a shrinking student population, and a more equitable reliance on contingent faculty.
So, what makes these presidents’ leadership worth examining more closely?
They lead with integrity as they advance their organizations’ vision and mission amidst a rapidly changing world.
They fight for inclusivity and do so while representing the voices of a diverse set of stakeholders.
They are expanding the reach of our profession by opening doors for emerging scholars, challenging the definition of what counts as research, and breaking down barriers for transdisciplinary thinking and doing.
At this time of year, we are reminded to reflect upon all that we have to be thankful for. For me, this includes the opportunity to learn from those who lead with their values.
I am grateful for the leadership provided over the past two-years by outgoing members of CMS’ Board of Directors.
Eileen Hayes (Past-President)
Brian Kai Chin (Vice President)
Brenda Romero (Ethnomusicology)
Patricia Burt (Music Theory)
Ayden Adler (Musicology)
I am excited to welcome into service our incoming CMS national leadership.
Brian Kai Chin (President-Elect)
Yeeseon Kwon (Vice President)
León García Corona (Ethnomusicology)
Stefanie Dickinson (Music Theory)
Imani Mosely (Musicology)
Please allow me to extend my gratitude to the outgoing regional leadership for all they’ve accomplished during their tenure, while welcoming those who have stepped forward to serve in 2023 and beyond.
Earlier this month, the Committee for Community Engagement announced the launch of nourish, an initiative that positions the work of music schools at the heart of the communities in which they reside. nourish brings people together to share a meal, make music, and empathize with one another through an act of togetherness and a moment that celebrates our uniqueness. This is something music can uniquely do, as it invites us to be curious and listen, balance the act of togetherness with the discovery of our unique voice. I hope you will accept this invitation to participate and become part of a global shared experience that nourishes connections across communities through music.
In the late hours of November 19, a gunman walked into a LGBTQIA+ nightclub in Colorado Springs and opened fire, killing five people and injuring 19 more. Less than 24-hours later, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker delivered an anti-transgender speech and began running anti-trans ads to clarify his political position on the subject. On November 30, the Department of Homeland Security warned that extremists were calling for copycat attacks in online forums.
As president of CMS, I receive feedback every month about my comments within this newsletter. This feedback – sometimes affirming and sometimes offering expressions of overreach – reminds me of the diversity of our membership and my obligation to lead our Society as directed by the collective values we embody and the power of the music we make. So then, why comment on hate crimes enacted on the queer community? Anti-Asian hate? Persisting inequities within and outside our profession?
Music serves as the soundtrack for our collective experience and can both tell us something about our complex histories and help shape our best future. Music connects people across difference. When you make music with someone different than yourself you learn something about them. And it changes you. It changes them. And when you pick up the newspaper and read about queer lives lost, or straight lives lost, or BIPOC lives lost, our differences no longer feel so different, so distant, so disconnected. It is closer to home. Part of our shared human experience.
I believe the collective values we embody and the power of the music we make as a Society stretches far beyond our disciplines and is actively shaping goodness in the world. And that is what I try to talk about.
Thanks for joining the conversation,
Mark Rabideau
President, College Music Society
Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs, College of Arts & Media
University of Colorado Denver
