Choral Scholarship and the Beloved Community: A Content Analysis of Published Journal Articles

Patrick Freer

The article reports findings from a study purposed toward examining if, and how, the tenets of Beloved Community have been reflected in published choral research. The 2022 National Conference of the National Collegiate Choral Association (NCCO) reflected a response to the wave of civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd by police officers in May 2020. Coinciding with the period COVID-19 lockdowns, the unrest highlighted other instances of brutality attributed to race, including the killing of Rashard Brooks in Atlanta. The NCCO conference was set to take place in 2021 at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, a historically black institution; it was instead held virtually in 2022.

The conference theme honored Morehouse graduate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s conception of Beloved Community, described by the King Center as: a global vision in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.1

1 “The King Philosophy,” accessed October 4, 2022, https:// thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy/.

The call for NCCO conference proposals directed presenters to examine the organization’s statement of mission and values. The call included the following text referencing the principles of Beloved Community:

Our conference theme is rooted in the work we have done over the past year to unearth the stories of our choral world, identifying where we have erred and where we have room to grow. In Building Beloved Community, we agree to take on the work of care for one another, while acknowledging that we can only offer our deepest artistry and most impactful pedagogy when we feel safe to be ourselves. The NCCO9 conference planning team welcomes proposals from our membership for our presentations in all areas that amplify this message of connection and empathy.2

This study consisted of a content analysis of peer-reviewed articles appearing in the research journals, since inception, of the National

Collegiate Choral Organization (the Choral Scholar & American Choral Review) and the American Choral Directors Association (the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing) for topics and themes consistent with the values emerging as important to the profession in the current era of cultural unrest and distrust. Though ACDA’s Choral Journal also publishes scholarly articles, the two journals reviewed for this project are the associations’ designated research publications. The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing is the scientific research journal of the American Choral Directors Association.3 Founded in 2002, the journal has encouraged researchbased understandings that promote mutually informative conversation among scientific, artistic, and pedagogical orientations to choir singing. The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review, first published in 2009, is the scholarly journal of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. 4 The study purpose was to determine if, to what extent, and how the content of these journals reflected the conference themes, including Beloved Community.

Method and Procedures

The researchers were a university professor and an undergraduate research assistant affiliated with a university in downtown Atlanta. The civil protests of May and June 2020 took place in the immediate blocks around the university’s School of Music, with some of the music buildings sustaining damage during the events. The study was developed in the aftermath of the protests. The study’s author was a 56-year-old white male professor, and the undergraduate student was a 19-year-old black male who had graduated a year earlier from a local high school. Both used he/him/his pronouns. The student maintained a written record of his personal reflections while the study proceeded; these reflections are excerpted later in this article.

3 “International Journal of Research in Choral Singing,” accessed October 4, 2022, https://acda.org/publications/internationaljournal-of-research-in-choral-singing.

4 “The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review,” accessed October 4, 2022, https://ncco-usa.org/publications/the-choralscholar-american-choral-review.

The study proceeded in three phases, in line with previously established protocols for reviews of journal content in the arts and humanities.5 Data collection and analysis followed the model of systematic review developed by Petticrew and Roberts, suggested as an appropriate review method “when it is known that there is a wide range of research on a subject but where key questions remain unanswered.”6 This review included quantitative and qualitative investigations, theoretical writings, historical texts, and commentaries. The sources varied substantially in design, methodological rigor, assessment, and analysis. For this reason, a narrative, synthetic approach 7 was selected as the presentation format for this systematic review.

The first task was to identify the total data set of all items published in the two journals, as displayed on the respective journal websites. The total data set was determined to comprise 151 items. Sixty-four items were published in

5 Patrick K. Freer, “Challenging the Canon: LGBT Content in Arts Education Journals,” Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 196 (2013): 45–63. https://doi. org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.196.0045; Yu-Pin Huang, Y., Melanie E. Brewster, Bonnie Moradi, Melinda B. Goodman, Marcie C. Wiseman, and Annelise Martin, “Content Analysis of Literature about LGB People of Color: 1998–2007,” The Counseling Psychologist 38, no. 3 (2010): 363-396. doi: 10.1177/0011000009335255; Julia C. Phillips, Kathleen M. Ingram, Nathan Grant Smith, and Erica J. Mindes, “Methodological and Content Review of Lesbian-, Gay-, and Bisexual-Related Articles in Counseling Journals: 1990-1999,” The Counseling Psychologist 31, no. 1 (2003), 25–62.https://doi. org/10.1177/0011000002239398 the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (2003–2021), including 52 articles, eight editorials, and four miscellaneous items. Eighty-seven items were published in The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review (2009–2021), 48 articles, 12 editorials, 24 sets of reviews of repertoire, recordings, and/or books, and three miscellaneous items.

6 Mark Petticrew, and Helen Roberts, Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 21.

7 David N. Boote, and Penny Beile, “Scholars Before Researchers: On the Centrality of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation,” Educational Researcher 34, no. 6 (2005): 3–15. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034006003; Chris Hart, Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Research Imagination, 2nd ed. (London, UK: Sage Publications, 2018).

The first phase of review consisted of identifying all mentions of content relevant to the study. The total data set of 151 items was screened according to procedures developed by Littell, Corcoran, and Pillai.8 The review examined for both primary and secondary themes. Primary themes were those referenced in the NCCO conference call for proposals, specifically “right-relationships,” “cultural consciousness,” “cultural resilience,” and “culturally responsive teaching/learning.”

These were named directly within the text of the call and/or within the organization’s mission and vision statements.9 The first-phase examination was of all journal content, regardless of article type or peer-reviewed status.

The focus of the second phase was a review for all content related to, but not directly using, those terms. The third phase of the review included more focused examination of all content related to the study’s secondary themes of “caring,” “connection,” “community,” and “empathy.” Analysis followed processes of reflexive thematic analysis.10

Findings and Discussion

Thirteen items (8.6%) in the total data set (N=151) were deemed to reflect elements of “Beloved Community.” All 13 were research articles. Each of the study’s four primary themes was identified within one or more of the 13 articles. These 13 articles, then, each reflected one or more of the study’s secondary themes. These results are shown in Table 1, with the abbreviations “CS” (The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review) and “IJRCS” (International Journal of Research in Choral Singing).

(Table 1 shown on next page.)

Twelve of these 13 articles were published in 2018 or later. There is little recognition or discussion of singers’ race or ethnicity in these articles. It is interesting that issues of race and ethnicity have received relatively little attention from this subset of the choral research community, while 31% of the articles reflecting Beloved Community dealt with issues of singers’ gender and/or sexuality (still only n =4, however). Might this indicate that choral researchers are more comfortable with topics of gender and sexuality than they are with topics of race and ethnicity? Or, might it indicate that choral researchers study what they find familiar, with gender and sexuality being familiar to those in research positions—or, at least more familiar than issues of race and ethnicity?

8 Julia H. Littell, Jacqueline Corcoran, and Vijayan Pillai, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

9 “Vision & Mission,” accessed October 4, 2022, https://ncco-usa. org/about/vision-mission.

10 Virginia Braun, and Victoria Clarke, Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (London, UK: Sage Publications, 2021); Virginia Braun, and Victoria Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (2006): 77–101.

Within the group of articles focused on gender and sexuality, the topics were addressed exclusively within the paradigmatic theme of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning. Where current academic conversations often concern the need for a broad cultural consciousness of gender and sexuality, the articles in this collection focused exclusively on pedagogy responsive to the genders and sexualities of students within our choirs. That

Primary

Right-Relationships Connection, Solidarity

CS/ACR Arnold, D. (2020). Serge Jaroff and his Don Cossack Choir: The refugees who took the world by storm.

IJRCS

Cultural Consciousness Empathy, Equality

MacIntosh, H. B., Tetrault, A.,Vallée, J. (2020). “Trying to sing through the tears.” Choral music and childhood trauma: Results of a pilot study.

CS/ACR Zakery, H., Jr. (2021). William Grant Still’s ...And They Lynched Him on a Tree: A performance and reception history.

IJRCS Baker, V. D. (2018). A gender analysis of composers and arrangers of middle and high school choral literature on a statemandated list.

IJRCS Cash, S. (2019). Middle and high school choral directors’ programming of world music.

Cultural Resilience Community, Integration

CS/ACR Crowe, D. R. (2021). Retention of college students and freshman-year music ensemble participation.

IJRCS Brown, T. R. (2012). Students’ registration in collegiate choral ensembles: Factors that Influence continued participation.

Culturally Responsive Teaching & Learning Caring, Inclusion may be reflection of the pedagogical work that choral conductors do daily. It may reflect the ease with which choral researchers have access to specific populations of students, requiring relatively simple approval processes from university research bureaus. Or, it may simply demonstrate the interest of choral conductors in the improvement of the craft of rehearsing and preparing singers for high level music making.

CS/ACR Saplan, J. (2018). Creating inclusivity: Transgender singers in the choral rehearsal.

IJRCS Parkinson, D. J. (2018). Diversity and inclusion within adult amateur singing groups: A literature review.

IJRCS Latimer, M. E., Jr. (2008). “Our voices enlighten, inspire, heal and empower:” A mixed methods investigation of demography, sociology, and identity acquisition in a gay men’s chorus.

IJRCS Cates, D. S. (2020). Music, community, and justice for all: Factors influencing participation in gay men’s choruses.

IJRCS Howard, K. (2020). Knowledge practices: Changing perceptions and pedagogies in choral music education.

IJRCS Killian, J. N., Wayman J. B., Antoine, P. M. (2021). Choral directors’ self-report of accommodations made for boys’ changing voices: A twenty-year replication.

Smaller sets of articles addressed the other three themes related to Beloved Community. RightRelationships have been defined as those based on “honesty, trust, mutual respect, and love…with [re-examination] of prejudice and exclusion.”11 empathy and equality. The term “empathy” is derived from the German “Einfühlung” (or “feeling into”),12 through with a stance where conductors are obliged to “to keep an emotional distance, avoid the presumption of total understanding, and retain a position of analytical curiosity.”13

The two articles in this set addressed very different elements of “righting” relationships, with one article dealing with choral music’s role in the healing of relationships after trauma, and the other describing choirs as connections between different peoples.

The theme of Cultural Resilience backgrounded two articles exploring issues of transition, recruitment, and retention in choral music at the tertiary level. The theme is relevant to these articles because both studies yielded results indicating that when not required by their major, students enroll in choral ensembles due, chiefly, to the social component of group singing. This is supported by Cultural Resilience’s secondary themes of community and integration; both address the emotional and social connections afforded by a shared sense of cultural-community milieu.

Colleen Kirk, longtime choral conductor at Florida State University, once outlined choral conductors “must be thoroughly grounded in musicianship sensitivities and understandings, care about the singers and their concerns, be alert to cues which reveal the interests and growth of choir members, and be sensitive to time and to comfortable rehearsal and concert pacing.”

14 The studies reported in the articles comprising this subgroup examined the genders of composers and arrangers on lists of contest-required choral repertoire, how choral conductors approach the programming of world music, and the socio-political and critical response to repertoire that challenges performance norms and/or sensibilities. The secondary themes of empathy and equality linked these three articles, as each sought to heighten the profession’s awareness of how decisions of pedagogy and performance impact perceptions of our choral programs for institutions, for audiences, and, principally, for singers.

Student Reflection

This study’s undergraduate research assistant wrote a reflection paper at the conclusion of the project. He wrote as a new college music major, as a high-performing choral singer, and as a person of color (POC). This student’s words give context

The final primary theme, Cultural Consciousness, referred to a process of becoming aware (conscious) of others’ values, histories, and experiences. The related secondary themes were

11 “Covenant of Beloved Community,” accessed October 4, 2022, https://wp.buf.org/covenant-of-beloved-community/.

12 “Empathy,” accessed October 4, 2022, https://plato.stanford. edu/entries/empathy/.

13 Patrick K. Freer, “The Successful Transition and Retention of Boys from Middle School to High School Choral Music,” Choral Journal 52, no. 10 (2012): 10. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/23560678.

14 See Patrick K. Freer, “The Conductor’s Voice: Working Within the Choral Art,” Choral Journal 48, no. 4 (2007): 36. https:// doi.10.2307/23557622 to both the study and to his experiences within choral music at the tertiary level. The following is excerpted from the longer essay:

I was about to enter my freshman year of college with a major in music education and a passion for choral singing. As my view of the world started to sharpen, in part due to the social unrest that occurred in Summer 2020, I started to analyze everything around me on a racial and cultural spectrum. I couldn’t help but notice the lack of diversity in my high school’s choir program. It seems that POC students are enrolling in choir in fewer and fewer numbers. As I have talked with many of my POC classmates about why they chose to leave choir, they are almost synonymous in their response: lack of inclusivity.

Inclusivity in the choral setting is not an easy task, especially when POC’s make up such a small percentage of choral directors at the high school and collegiate levels. While this can be a touchy or sensitive topic to discuss, it is most certainly one that needs to be talked about. It astonished me that there has been so little research found in the two journals we examined for this project.

I feel there are two main steps choral directors should take here. The first is to re-establish their program (classroom) as a safe space at the beginning of each new year. The second step is harder because it involves history, society, and long-standing tradition: re-consideration of repertoire. Choral music is so much more than one time period, or one group of people from the same demographic. The beautiful thing about music is that it can allow freedom of expression and develop camaraderie for people across a multitude of cultures and backgrounds.

It is imperative that the diverse world that we live in is represented through the choices in our repertoire. This is critically important for POC choral students. It goes beyond the repertoire on the concert. It acknowledges the soul of the choir.

Several of the 13 articles identified in this study bore findings relevant to this student’s comments. Among these, Parkinson offered in a note that “research into diversity and inclusion within the field of music education has tended to focus on the inclusion of individuals with special needs and there is little that considers wider aspects of inclusion.”15 Howard reported choral conductors’ perceptions of the pressure they experience in the public arenas of education and musical performance: “Choral music educators often referenced a fear of making mistakes or of causing offense as main barriers to trying new techniques, sounds, repertoire, and growing their personal understandings of the sociocultural context of the music cultures their groups perform.”16 While Crowe opened their article with a summary of studies that had examined how retention rates might be improved for POC, neither Crowe’s study nor its discussion addressed racial or cultural diversity in any manner.17 Zackery, in his advocation for performance of Still’s ...And They Lynched Him on a Tree wrote, “We find ourselves grasping the ramifications of systemic inequities and forms of ‘lynching’ on different types of ‘roadside trees,’ as the Black Lives Matter Movement and pleas for meaningful change grow louder and stronger.”18

15 Diana J. Parkinson, “Diversity and Inclusion within Adult Amateur Singing Groups: A Literature Review,” International Journal of Research in Choral Singing 6 (2018): 42.

16 Karen Howard, “Knowledge Practices: Changing Perceptions and Pedagogies in Choral Music Education,” International Journal of Research in Choral Singing 8 (2020): 13.

17 Don R. Crowe, “Retention of College Students and FreshmanYear Music Ensemble Participation,” The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review 59, no. 1 (2021): 75–82.

18 Harlan Zackery, Jr., “William Grant Still’s ...And They Lynched Him on a Tree: A Performance and Reception History,” The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review 59, no. 1 (2021): 13.

Summary and Implications

This analysis suggests that article content broadly related to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s concept of Beloved Community is not prevalent in the Choral Scholar & American Choral Review and the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing . Only 13 of 151 items published in the two journals were found to reflect themes associated with Beloved Community, though 12 of these were published in the last four years under consideration. It appears that recent choral researchers have recently begun to address related topics. Further research might examine journals of choral practice, such as Choral Journal, with a similar study design. It would be interesting to know if choral researchers influence practice, or if choral practice influences decisions of research topic and study design. Additional research might seek to identify the affiliations of study authors to understand whether related journal content is being generated at the doctoral level, or by choral conductors employed within higher education. Do working choral conductors have the contractual time and career latitude to conduct these types of studies? If not, do they need to consciously direct their doctoral students toward studies addressing issues of Right-Relationships, Cultural Consciousness, Cultural Resilience, and Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning in our profession? Choral scholars might begin by focusing their work on several of this study’s secondary themes, including connection, equality, integration, and caring.

Nel Noddings’ (1929–2022) conception of care provides an apt encapsulation of the relationship between Beloved Community and the choral work of conductors, composers, and choristers. Noddings asked, simply, “What does it mean to care and be cared for?”19 In terms of moving from theory to practice, Noddings advised that, “Our efforts must, then, be directed to the maintenance of conditions that make caring difficult.”20 Choral conductors and choral researchers might consider whether the word “maintenance” can be correctly applied to our profession, or whether we might consider instead that our efforts must, then, be directed to the transformation of conditions that make caring difficult. That is, indeed, the vision of Beloved Community.

— Patrick K. Freer

Patrick Freer is Professor of Music at Georgia State University where he conducts the Tenor-Bass Choir and directs the doctoral programs in music education. Dr. Freer has held Visiting Professorships at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria) and at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), and has been in residence as a guest conductor for the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia). His degrees are from Westminster Choir College and Teachers College-Columbia University. Dr. Freer is Editor of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing and former longtime editor of Music Educators Journal.

19 Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (University of California Press, 1984): 3.

20 Noddings, Caring, 5.

As the Director of Affinity Groups for NCCO and the Affinity Group Column Editor for the Choral Journal, I am excited to bring responsive and sustainable voices and approaches to embodying Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Belonging to our field that bridges theory and practice. This column will feature voices and perspectives that assist us in expanding our practice in informed and nuanced ways.

This issue we highlight contributions from our Asian/Pacific Islander Affinity Group and feature composer, culture bearer, and choral musician Hung Wen, who discusses the impact of colonization on Taiwan’s approach to choral musicking and shares with us her research of Taiwanese Tsou composer, Uyonge Yatauyungana and his work, The Goddess of Spring.

—Jace Saplan