Global Music Composition bibliography

Here’s a Global Music Composition bibliography I’ve been working on the past couple years. Initially grew out of Thai Music Composition bibliography, the entries of which haven’t all been added to the Global bib. I’ve compiled them as an aid for composers (especially those with ethnic heritage’s outside of Europe/North America) to engage with actual composition traditions that have existed outside of the Western Composition tradition.

A lot of this has grown out of my own practice as a composer and work with a number of minoritized communities in the US, as well as in interaction with other US based composers who’ve been meaningfully engaging with the composition traditions tied to their ethnic backgrounds.

But really, the big inspiration was the publication of The TENG Guide to the Chinese Orchestra in 2019 which is an outstanding resource for Chinese Orchestra theory, orchestration, and composition. I took me on a journey looking at composition and music theory programs, especially in bi/polymusical education systems globally.