“Should I Perform This Music?”

Abstract: This essay addresses cultural appropriation in music not as a problem to be solved through fixed rules or binary judgments, but as an ongoing ethical practice grounded in intent, relationship, and accountability. Centered on a decision-making chart designed for use rather than theoretical mastery, the article situates musical engagement within dynamic communities shaped by difference, power, and mutual indebtedness. Drawing on critical scholarship, classroom experience, and responses from multiple scholars and artists, the essay reframes appropriation away from simple distinctions between appreciation and theft, emphasizing instead how musical meaning emerges through lived interaction, affective experience, and social consequence.

Through dialogic reflection and critique, the essay foregrounds the limits of critique alone and argues for generative, process-oriented approaches to ethical music-making. Contributors highlight how questions of freedom, empathy, identity, labor, and privilege intersect in musical encounters, particularly for students and musicians navigating activist fatigue, creative desire, and fear of harm. Rather than offering definitive answers, the essay insists on ambiguity, refusal, and responsibility as necessary components of ethical musical practice. Ultimately, it proposes that cultivating relationships, acknowledging indebtedness, and remaining open to discomfort are central to making music that aspires toward justice, mutuality, and shared futures.

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Latin America and the Decolonization of Classical Music

Abstract: This essay explores three related stories of classical music in Latin America that reveal the complexities, failures, and successes of decolonizing projects: the Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM), the Cursos Latinoamericanos de Música Contemporánea (CLAMC), and the Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos (OEIN). The essay prompts critical reflection, questioning if projects that emerge from strictly modernizing ethos can become a space of resistance against coloniality. As a provocation, this chapter suggests that decolonizing projects, while prone to frequent failure, remain productive and worth pursuing. It concludes by urging readers to form their interpretation from the evidence, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and individual research in shaping historical narratives and fostering a deeper understanding of complex issues.

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