In the world of professional orchestral music, diversity has long been an issue. In a 2016 diversity study by the League of American Orchestras, just 15% of orchestral musicians were non-white, and LGTBQ+ musicians weren’t being counted. Additionally, the pool of composers and pieces most often presented tends to stick to the codified bankable book of hits by the familiar long-dead classical rock stars such as Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. When contemporary composers are presented, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ composers are seldom considered.

The brass section and the larger brass musician community is a microcosm of the industry, and the percentages aren’t much different. There are still few BIPOC and LGBTQ+ brass and horn players and few programs to encourage young aspiring brass players to enter the field.

To combat the lack of diversity and inclusion, a group of black women joined forces in the summer of 2021 to form The Chromatic Brass Collective, a non-profit organization for racially and ethnically underrepresented women and gender non-binary brass musicians. Currently, the C.B.C. has an open fundraising campaign (through October 4, 2021) to help fulfill its first-year goals. Those goals include establishing a mentoring system to encourage young women and non-binary BIPOC brass musicians, conducting outreach programs and lectures, and creating a commission of underrepresented composers and increase their visibility.

Theresa May is a Cleveland-based trumpeter and adjunct faculty and music educator at Cuyahoga Community College and John Carroll University and a teaching artist at the Roots of American Music organization. May is also a member of the group Mourning [A] BLKstar -part of EarthQuaker’s Artist Medallion Program - and performs with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Gabriel's Horns big band, and the Colour of Music Festival. May is also one of the founders and treasurer of the Chromatic Brass Collective.

May talked to EQD about the impetus for the group, the need for mentorship and visibility for young BIPOC and LGBTQ+ brass players, and the difficulty of convincing music organizations to widen their programming to encourage diversity and inclusion.

To show your support for the Chromatic Brass Collective, donate to their fundraiser here. To experience their talent, check out the C.B.C.’s virtual debut concert here.

EQD: How long have you been an educator, and what or who inspired you to play the trumpet and eventually become an educator and mentor? Did you have a mentor?

Theresa May: I've been an active professional musician and educator since 2009, after receiving my Master of Music in trumpet performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. 

My father, James May, was my first teacher and musical example. He plays trumpet and also previously taught trumpet lessons and music classes. My dad most recently led one of the big bands at the Music Settlement (Cleveland) and still leads his big band, Gabriel’s Horns.

There are several people who have positively impacted my journey. My biggest mentors are my father and my mother, Chestana May, who's experienced racism and misogyny as a Black woman police officer, which mirrors many of my negative experiences as a Black woman trumpet player, and my undergraduate trumpet teacher, Dr. Patrick Reynolds.

EQD: Can you talk about the specific moment and climate that spurred that initial meeting among the brass players in June of 2020?

May: At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in awareness of the countless murders and police brutality toward unarmed Black citizens. As a result of these many injustices and amidst the protests following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, several Black women gathered virtually to have a live-streamed conversation highlighting their experiences as Black women brass players. This conversation led us to realize that we needed our own community -our own artistic space. A space that fosters community, a sense of belonging, mentorship, and provides encouragement.

EQD: How inspiring and uplifting was that initial discussion, and were you and the others previously aware of how large the women of color, BIPOC, and non-binary people community in brass was?

May: I have often felt like I am alone on an island, but when the group of 11 Black women brass musicians virtually gathered on June 28th, 2020, I felt like our islands merged, and we established a sense of community. That initial meeting was very inspiring and gave me feelings of belonging, acceptance, understanding, and hope. It was clear that, while our stories are different, we have many similar shared experiences. I remember one of the panelists remarked that it was the first time they had been in a room (virtually or otherwise) with that many other Black women brass players. 

EQD: How many members of CBC are there so far, and how can interested brass players join the group?

May: There are currently 30 members in CBC! Any woman or non-binary brass musician who is racially and ethnically underrepresented and 18 or older can join CBC by contacting us at info@chromaticbrass.org or by going to our website www.chromaticbrass.org

EQD: As an educator and a working musician, in what ways have you seen the inequity play out in the classical/brass community?

May: I'd like to partly answer this question with an assignment:

• Look up pictures of several orchestras. How many appear to be BIPOC in the brass section? How many women do you see in the brass section?

• Google "trumpet player", "trombone player","tuba player", etc. The results are overwhelmingly male and/or white. 

When I am teaching music classes, I make a point to show examples of diverse performers because representation matters. Also, there are still educators who believe that girls can or should only play specific "girly" instruments, can't play as loud or as high as their male counterparts, and are less equipped because of their stature. This is problematic and unacceptable. 

EQD: In the classical/brass world, it seems many orchestras and music organizations tend to stick to the familiar “hits” they know will sell tickets to the traditional audience. How difficult has it been to get brass and music organizations to widen their repertoire and include underrepresented contemporary composers?

May: Yes, in many organizations I think the fear of possibly losing audience members and donors takes precedence over highlighting new and diverse composers. In my opinion, any primarily fear-based system is tragic and the opposite of what music programming should entail. 

Chromatic Brass Collective recently presented in the Annual Symposium of the International Horn Society. Our performance presentations featured many diverse, contemporary, and living composers. The responses to our programming were all positive and encouraging!

There is great music being composed daily!

EQD: Do you think or feel that there is active resistance in the professional horn/music community or just ignorance, cronyism, or are there other reasons?

May: This is a good question! I personally feel like the root of resistance (read: racism, misogyny, racial biases, etc.) is multifaceted. I feel that being a Black woman in the brass world is not much different than being a Black woman in any STEM field, and the reasoning behind racism and misogyny is something I am not fully equipped to explain. I am more capable of explaining how I feel or have felt from the receiving end.

EQD: With music education funding in many public school districts minimized or cut out altogether, how important is the mentoring system and outreach programs the CBC is establishing?

May: CBC’s mentorship and outreach programs are really at the heart of our organization. We understand that representation matters, and if we can show younger generations we exist, then we know that alone will make a huge difference in what students of color think they can achieve. These students will know they belong because they see us!

EQD: What are some of the benefits you’ve seen of music education in lower education, particularly for BIPOC and non-binary folks who are often just not encouraged at all? Do you ever hear stories from your students about a lack of encouragement or guidance when they were younger?

May: I think, because of the size of music ensembles compared to other classes, many of us can find community in band/orchestra/choir. These areas are largely communal and can make a huge positive impact on students if the atmosphere is accepting and encouraging. As a private lesson instructor, I have witnessed many students discover their confidence and feed their creativity by playing trumpet/music.

EQD: It’s early in the CBC’s existence, but is there any information or ideas you can share about the mentoring and outreach programs the CBC will be conducting? All of these plans and programs are designed to be national, is that correct?

May: We have members ranging from students currently in undergraduate programs, to those like me who are working professionals, to those with Doctoral of Musical Arts degrees (Ph.D.) teaching and performing at major universities. With this wide range of experience, we will be able to mentor inside the program as well as provide mentorship outside of the organization. We have already begun reaching out to organizations with a larger demographic of students of color, and we are definitely looking to mentor and provide outreach programs on the national level. Exact programming is in the works and will largely depend on the specific student needs within each organization we partner with.

Malcolm X Abram is a recovering reporter and music writer and a proud 40 year guitar noodler. He lives, works and plays in the bucolic dreamland of Akron, Ohio in an old house with two dogs who don’t really like each other and way too many spiders.

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