ABSTRACT
The standard models of the North American university music program emerge from an inherited European pedagogical philosophy that emphasizes canonical works, reified linear histories, heroized individuals, and hierarchized valuations. These factors result in a hegemonic, exclusionist, and unjust system of access. Interrogating these hierarchies is a necessary first step in dismantling such structures and decolonizing these values. The incorporation of vernacular idioms and ensembles into North American conservatories carries both benefits and challenges: enhanced pedagogical efficacy, increased student engagement, and direct address to NASM program requirements contend with the risk of distorting source idioms’ aesthetics, values, and musical/organizational principles. This chapter provides analysis of the North American conservatory's historical response to vernacular musics, investigates three case studies, and addresses attendant literature in order to provide both nuts-and-bolts musical and pedagogical suggestions and philosophical frames for negotiating conflicts between vernacular and conservatory values.
