After 8 successful years of mentor programs for students with disabilities, United Sound is expanding to tackle another barrier to equity in music by forming the United Sound Composer Project.

What is the Project? The Composer Project is a group of highly successful leaders in the fields of music composition, music performance, music education, and business. They have joined forces to spread awareness, make change, and help train the next generation of creators.

Why was the Project formed? In 2022, Girls represent 60% of the musicians in high school bands and orchestras, yet only 17% of professional composers identify as female, and less than 2% of all music performed is written by women. Similar statistics exist for BIPOC students and composers: BIPOC students make up 42% of school band and orchestra populations, but BIPOC composers comprise a mere 17% among their colleagues. College and Elite performance ensembles have done a great job of representing composers of color and women, but it isn’t enough to counter the implicit bias inherited during the first 8 years of music-making.

How does this help? We recognize that teachers struggle with the onus of countering systemic bias on top of all the other demands placed on them, and we know that emerging and minoritized composers struggle to break the glass ceiling and get their names to the teachers to perform their music. We are bringing these groups together to give a direct voice to diverse composers in the classroom. This takes the form of mentorship services, working collaborations between ensembles and emerging composers, professional quality recordings of new music curated and delivered to teachers in an easy-to-use format, a database searchable by composer identity, and a “grant” system where teachers who are unable to purchase new and diverse music for their schools can receive financial help.