Research Symposium

BIO

Sophia Gannaoui is a 4th year Choral Music Education major from Kissimmee, Florida. Her research interests include music, linguistics, and ethnomusicology. She is currently involved with the CRE serving as a UROP Leader and UROP Leader Mentor. After graduation, she plans on becoming a choral director and utilizing her Instagram, @isntshesosharp, to make access to research easier for people to be exposed to through social media.

Exploring Diversity in Religious Repertoire Through Choral Music

Abstract

With the intention of supporting the American Choral Directors Association's vision for creating "powerful artistic experiences and [advocating] for cultural and educational change" to transform the lives of students, this project aims to bring exposure to diverse religious repertoire in choral music that enhances the cultural and educational experiences of students within the choral classroom, in addition to bringing forth representation for students that are followers of the religions that are exposed. This project specified criteria for what qualifies choral literature to be "diverse," providing choral directors the opportunity to discover diverse religious choral works outside of the recommendations this project offers. Examining existing works within the big three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam- there is a lack of representation in choral music for Muslim populations. This is due to Islam having stricter regulations on music, and choral music typically referring to notated group singing which is common practice in the Western world. With the criteria offered to identify diversity in religious repertoire and providing examples of music that fit these criterion, this project supports and aims to inspire the creation of more choral music that represents underrepresented religions in the choral world in a respectful manner.

Keywords: music, religion, diversity