acolli17

I hope that at no point my words have been misinterpreted to bash the MMs in any way. This is a critique of the design process, and nothing more.

I get the feeling that last post will be misinterpreted, so allow me to clarify: if you were going to do a show about Hanukkah, you could include a Jewish composer. If you did a show about the history of slave music, you could use a slave song. If you did a show about pirates, you could include a sea shanty. If you do a show about a specific theme, it makes sense to use music created for and by that theme. If your theme is women, wouldn’t it make sense to use music written by women?

That’s not the same logic though - if a group is going to do a show about women, the idea could be to disclude, at least for one selection, male composers. Because the point to drive home is that women can create music on par with men. The difference I think we’re expressing is your example says the concept drives the music. Why couldn’t, for at least one movement, the music drive the concept?

I was saying that there’s never been issue with their programming before, despite the fact that it’s been 99% male composed. The issue that expel are having now is that they’re doing a show about women empowerment and not including women in the music selections.

Your last statement is a great point to remember, for all people, in all aspects of life.

I think we can all agree that the lack of foresight on the PR portion of Phantom was subpar. I went through the history of Phantom's repertoire, and the only time they played a piece by a female composer was in 1972, when they did Bates's America the Beautiful. It doesn't seem like this has ever been an issue with fans of the activity in the past, but only when Phantom made it a point of their show did the criticisms come to surface. There have undoubtedly been many aspects of criticism of Phantom's show designs over the years, does proper representation of gender inequality not warrant the same level of validity?

There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll do my best to address your comments. I sincerely hope I've come across as respectful with every comment I've made, and my intention was to never belittle or offend. I think we have to be careful when we say we're browbeating, since points are simply trying to be made. Isn't that what we do with every discussion? Uniforms, drill, music, staff, tradition, all facets of drum corps are discussed with passion, and that's what makes this activity great. I don't hope that others will "see the light," but rather it's a topic for discussion where people present material to alter the opinion of others. That's not browbeating, in my opinion, that's simply having a conversation. I think the point about the female composers is that a lot of people feel that programming works by women would have been in the best interests of Phantom. In the classes that I teach, I spent a lot of extra time going out of my way to program music that was not only engaging and challenging to my students, but represented a wide spectrum of diversity in composers this year. If you listened to the music, you wouldn't get the feeling that pieces were picked with an agenda in mind, but rather that it was great music (in my opinion). I personally feel that Phantom could have done the same, again this is my opinion. And to answer your question, disregarding gender is real equality, yes. And were Phantom to have created a gender neutral show this year, I don't think there'd be any issue. But the show is in fact not disregarding gender - it is very strongly about female empowerment. So to then turn around and not do that in all of the different facets of the show feels disingenuous, almost as if they're jumping on the bandwagon because it's the hot topic of the times. I understand your point about equality, but the concept of this show is not gender equal, which then creates a lack of consistency in the design because of the decisions that were made.

Your point is well made, and I can respect that. Hopefully their message comes through regardless of the source of music and we can all enjoy their show this summer without political frivolity in the background.

Can you elaborate on your tip of the spear statement? I don't know if I'm understanding it correctly, but it seems like you're saying the way that equality is being represented in this context is as the beginning of an assault on norms. I could very well be wrong, so I apologize if I misread your comment.

Oh come on, let's not be hyperbolic here. By doing that, you're telling people that their concerns about composer representation are immaterial and unjustified, and that they don't deserve a voice in the conversation. Disagree, but don't disrespect.

I don't want to speak on other people's behalf, but my understanding is similar to when someone says they support American industry and manufacturing, and then proceed to purchase products made in China and Mexico (I know this is getting dangerously close to political, so I want to explicitly state that I am not trying to poke or shine a spotlight on any single individual or group). The reason I've read that people are upset is not just because there are no women composers having been programmed - that's happened countless times throughout drum corps over the years - but that a group states that their show is about empowering women and then doesn't empower women with their music selections.

Judging by the level of backlash to the programming, I'd say a lot of people care.

That's great that you don't care, but do you don't think there would be backlash from alums or other diehard traditionalist fans?

I disagree, because look at the limited amount of backlash the Cadets are facing right now. Their show is as, if not more so, focused on women empowerment, and the level at which they are dealing with these arguments isn't happening. At least not that I've noticed. Let's flip the question here - Would it be odd to you if when Madison did their Corps of Brothers show, they used music exclusively written by women? Not because they went out of their way to avoid men, but because the music they found most fitting was written exclusively by women.

I've been doing a lot of research into women and minority composers this year. I am purposely avoiding adding my opinion to this specific topic, but I read a few pages back about some people not being able to name female composers, so I'd like to offer a list of names to get you started! Again, not adding any input specifically on the politics of programming, but just a reference for those who would like to expand their composer knowledge: Alex Shapiro Julie Giroux Cait Nishimura Fanny Mendelssohn Jennifer Jolley Caroline Shaw Clara Schumann Roshanne Etezady Nicole Piunno Hildegard Von Bingen Carol Britton Chambers Libby Larsen Lisa Galvin Jennifer Higdon Cindy McTee Obviously there are more out there, but these are ones that I've listened to and I think would work extremely well on the marching field. I put the composers in bold that I think would REALLY work well.

I dunno, I turned 30 this year and my knees are starting to slow me down!

Yeah, I know. It's late and I'm not doing a very good job of being snarky.

If anything, the old uniforms were as much if not more a costume than the new ones.

Does anyone know if Maslanka maybe gave permission for arrangements after his death? Maybe it was that he didn't want to hear his music messed with, but didn't care after he was gone.

I love Maslanka, but does anyone else feel weirdly about corps jumping on the arrangement train so soon after his death? He was ardently opposed to his music being reinterpreted, I just feel slightly weird that so many groups immediately jumped at the chance to use his music. Maybe that's just me, I dunno.

Someone on one of the Troopers FB pages also pointed out that the position that the individual in the sketch is standing doesn't lend itself well to the uniform. When the members are standing at full attention, and not leaning so heavily to one side, I think it will come across much better.

I hadn't realized they put up a store until now. And that shirt is so awesome!!! I'm beyond excited at this point.

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT!!!

Yes, because I quite obviously meant that in the most literal sense, I only ever speak in absolutes...