Concert bands as we know them today started in the nineteenth century. The repertoire at that time consisted primarily of orchestral transcriptions penned almost exclusively by people who identified as white male. In the twentieth century, even as the creation of original works for concert band became common place, the rate of compositions written by someone other than a white male was minimal. Composers from other communities were seldom played or introduced into the canon. Today, the instances of concerts including only white male composers are increasingly rare. Diverse and innovative programming have become much more the norm and the opportunities for composers from underrepresented communities have never been greater. This project describes the commissioning and recording process of six new compositions for concert band from composers of traditionally underrepresented communities and backgrounds. And since several of the pieces are playable by public school bands, it also includes a pedagogically-based performance guide for each work.

Latino/Hispanic students in public high schools are demonstratively underrepresented in music programs throughout the United States. The following literature review synthesizes research that attempts to identify the most significant determinants of participation and explores how such factors can affect students of Latino/Hispanic descent. The study applies an anti-racist perspective to the discussion of determinants by discussing the specific presence of Latino/Hispanic community in the United States and the various ways in which the music education system may fail to represent the ethnic group in the curriculum. The review also studies research that has found ways to better represent and recruit in music programs the largest minority ethnic group in the United States. Key words: Latino, Hispanic, music education, multiculturalism, anti-racism, race, ethnicity, participation gap.