What About My Voice? Music Pedagogy and Trans Identity

Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the domain of music education and the experience of trans students, with particular attention to singers. In the past two decades, medical transition has expanded and become accessible to more people, many of whom are musicians and vocalists. Trans health care and vocal pedagogy are slowly catching up to this watershed moment, but there are still challenges ahead in creating truly inclusive environments for all singers.

The strongest and most impactful scholarship examining this moment is entwined with auto-ethnographic reflection, and my work follows this model. While my analysis is informed by scholarly sources as well as through first-hand accounts of trans masculine artists Holden Magadame and Elijah MacCormack, but I also draw on my own experience. Through my own transition and experiences of vocal dysphoria in my musical education, I have gained insights on how to make learning spaces and pedagogy more trans affirming.