The Value of the Voice: The Alma College Choral Programs History of Sexism and Transgender Exclusion
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Authors
Cassandra McGaugh
Issue Date
2026
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Language
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Abstract
What is the value of your voice? If you could put a price tag on your vocal ability, what would it be? This project aims to guide attendees through an empathetic journey of diverse students through the past Alma College Choral Program.
This research project collected interviews with eight members of the Alma College Choral Program to find their scholarship amount, choir placement, assigned uniform, voice range, and voice placement to explore an inherent system of inequity in the Alma College Choral Program. This project also presents the conversations of change as this research opened conversations with music department staff about preferential and exclusionary policies.
According to anecdotal interviews conducted in March of 2025. The past Alma College music administration upheld gender preferential and transgender exclusionary policies. The scholarship gap between Soprano and Alto and Tenor and Bass voices created a system of gender preference and transgender exclusion within the choral program. From the lowest scholarship amount given to all Soprano and Alto singers, to the contradicting scholarship information and, exclusive culture the program created towards transgender singers.
This presentation explores the history of sexism and transgender exclusion in the wider choral music field and asks the viewers a simple question, what is the value of their voice? This presentation invites attendees to open up conversations about gender preferences, institutional intersectional discrimination, and hosting reflection on the Alma College Choral Programs discriminatory past.