What does de-colonising music look like?

How do you de-colonise something that was never colonised, and is actually a TOOL of colonisation?

This is the question I come back to when I begin thinking about how we can de-colonise music, and classical music specifically. I believe it’s important to unpack the ways classical music continues to act as a tool of colonisation to imagine what de-colonising music in Aotearoa would look like, and if that’s even possible. This is a complicated subject, and in this post I just want to introduce the concept of de-colonisation. This will be an ongoing discussion here on live laugh lemon. Before I get into it, I would like to express my gratitude for the Māori people who are constantly working to outline the issues of colonisation for Pākeha. A special mention to Ruby Solly, who is particularly active in the classical music scene. Māori and indigenous voices should be front and centre of this discussion. I would encourage you to read these articles before you continue:

Being Māori in Classical Music is Exhausting by Ruby Solly: https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/being-maori-in-classical-music-is-exhausting/

Article about Te Matatini funding compared to the NZSO: https://waateanews.com/2022/04/15/te-pati-maori-te-matatini-should-be-funded-at-the-same-rate-as-the-nzso/

If you aren’t sure how colonisation is present in music: have you ever heard people say that music is a universal language, referring to classical music? That is colonisation in classical music. Assuming that Beethoven’s 5th symphony is somehow universally understood is incredibly euro centric. What about when people call classical music’s most famous composers (ie Mozart, Beethoven, Bach) “geniuses”?. This implies intelligence comes from being white, male, institutionally educated, and from Europe. Not even every European nationality gets this preferential treatment! Most of these “geniuses” come from Germany or Austria, and a few from France, England, and Russia. (Guess which countries have problematic histories of colonising other countries?)

The most recent, example of colonisation in classical music that I’m beginning to be concerned about, is the arts accessibility movement. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for increased accessibility. However, I am concerned about accessibility efforts that come from a mindset that classical music is perfect and beautiful and should be spread far and wide (kind of like missionaries with Christianity, or measles). Classical music should open its closed doors, but let’s not force people to come in, especially if we aren’t ready to welcome them with respect. There are plenty of opportunities to increase accessibility for our existing diverse musicians, and this begins with facing up to our relationship with colonisation and systemic oppression - past and present. It is our personal responsibility to examine how colonisation presents in every field, and in our case as artists, our art forms. Classical music is not excused - if anything, we have more to answer to. It is because of colonisation that we do not have a more diverse classical music world.

An example of our ignorance here in Aotearoa was the push to save RNZ concert, our national classical music radio program. One detail that a lot of people like to emit, that Ruby Solly points out in her article, is that they were planning to replace RNZ concert with a radio station targeted at a young Māori and Pasifika audience. The classical music community kicked up a fuss, played Mozart on the parliament lawn, and RNZ concert was saved. I supported the save RNZ concert movement, because I believe in the importance of preserving classical music. However, some RNZ concert savers made questionable arguments, suggesting that classical music is better and more refined than whatever they would be playing to appeal to Māori and Pasifika youth. Ruby Solly describes some of the racism she witnessed and experienced from the protestors. Some argued that classical music should be for all, and that RNZ concert doesn’t inherently have to exclude Māori and Pasifika audiences, and I agree. Alas, they forgot to keep pretending to care about that once they got their way. Looking back, I wish I had made my stance clearer: We should save RNZ concert, and we should support classical music, but on the condition it does not come at the expense of marginalised groups. We should be making more of an effort to ensure that saving RNZ concert does not come at the expense of young Māori and Pasifika people.

Te Matatini funding compared to the NZSO and NZRB:

Here’s an infographic that’s been going around lately, that shows the difference in funding between the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and Te Matatini, a Māori performing arts festival.
I barely know what to say, other than this is outrageous and appalling, and exactly what colonisation in Aotearoa classical music looks like. It’s easy to try shift the blame off classical music. After all - the government are the ones who decide where the funding goes. However, if we don’t actively challenge classical music’s white, euro, and male centric history and culture, this funding will go directly towards perpetuating colonisation.

So how do we de-colonise classical music? I don’t have the answer. I think it’s a matter of always keeping de-colonisation at the forefront of our minds, and listening to the Māori and Indigenous people who have lived experience. We need to be paying close attention to the privilege our classical music institutions are granted. We need to pay even closer attention to who is missing out because of this privilege, and what we can do. If you are an artist, I would really encourage you to engage with what de-colonising your art form would look like and the ways in which colonisation prevails.

What does de-colonising music look like?

Te Matatini funding compared to the NZSO and NZRB:

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