Diversity in Classical Music

Welcome to the Diversity in Classical Music Research Guide! The Ball State University Office of Inclusive Excellence maintains that "Diversity recognizes the full gamut/broad spectrum of experiences and unique differences of all members of our community." With this ideal in mind, this guide addresses all forms of diversity, including differences as to racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender and sexuality, as well as ability. These are differences that classical music has long failed to recognize, preferring instead a strict canon of white, male composers of eras past. This guide seeks to help correct that misrepresentation and elevate voices which have long been excluded from our narrative of Western classical music.

Use this guide to discover music written by classical composers of diverse backgrounds. Individual pages list notable composers from each demographic group, and they recommend books and score anthologies to help contextualize these figures. Begin with General Resources, then explore African American Composers, Asian and Asian American Composers, Latin American Composers, Women Composers, LGBTQ+ Composers, and Composers with Disabilities. Hopefully, this will be a humanizing experience as the composers and other musicians listed at this guide begin to better resemble our own population at the School of Music and working in classical music today. Know of a resource not included in this guide? Feel free to email the Music Librarian and they will add it. Or, suggest an item for purchase, if it is a resource not currently owned by University Libraries.