Cultural Representation

The new Music Inclusion Hub (MIH) is a one-stop resource center that provides access to racial- and gender-inclusion educational materials for students of all grade levels, from educational videos and interactive composer databases to curricula and original student arrangements.

During the 2022-23 academic year, Buffalo String Works began asking the question: “How can we be more intentional about the music we’re asking our students to learn and perform?” Over the course of attempting to answer this question, the BSW Music Library Development Project was born—resulting in the commissioning and composition of a brand-new work for student string orchestra: “Aka” by Wai Hin Ko Ko.

The African American poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni begins her “Poem for Nina” with the following lines: we are all imprisoned in the castle of our skins/ and some of us have said so be it/ if i am in jail my castle shall become/ my rendezvous