Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Belonging at CYSO

At CYSO, we want everyone to be on the same page. Here are a few key definitions of terms we use when talking about equity, diversity, and inclusion. We’ve paraphrased these definitions from our friends at the League of American Orchestras.

• Equity – a commitment to justice, impartiality, and fairness in the way CYSO engages and supports students. Ensuring equity requires that we consider each student’s unique situation and the root causes of disparities within our community. That means examining how and where power and resources live (and are absent) in our community.
• Diversity – the differences within a group of people. Differences aren’t good or bad, but some groups have more power than others in our society. We celebrate diversity in age, differing bodies and abilities, education, ethnicity, gender identity & expression, geographic location, marital & family status, national origin & immigration status, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status/economic background. No individual can be “diverse.” It takes many people to create a “diverse” group.
• Inclusion –  making sure people from all backgrounds and identities can and do participate fully in CYSO. While a truly “inclusive” group is necessarily diverse, a “diverse” group may or may not be “inclusive.” Inclusion creates a sense of connectedness among all CYSO families.

• We are committed to continued transparency with our audition and evaluation processes through increased student understanding, participation, and feedback.
• We will continue to maintain and develop deep relationships with majority Black and Latinx music programs, such as our strong partnership with the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, The Peoples Music School, CYSO@CPS community residencies at Nixon Elementary, Moos Elementary, and Gallistel Language Academy, and Preludes program building partnerships with multiple other CPS schools. 
• We are working toward adopting more equitable tuition fee and financial assistance structures within the next several years.
• We prioritize teaching students about great music from a wide range of composers, which for us, means broadening the canon at every opportunity. While we have long been committed to playing works by underrepresented composers, we formally commit to including works by Black composers, women composers, or composers of other underrepresented groups on every CYSO concert in the 21-22 season and beyond.
• All CYSO staff members have participated in intensive anti-systemic racism training as of August 2020. CYSO will actively seek candidates equipped to further antiracist work for all artistic and administrative roles
• The CYSO Board of Directors also participates in antiracism training and prioritizes candidates who can speak to the different backgrounds and experiences represented in our student body. Our board always seeks a balanced leadership team with diverse perspectives, which includes continuously recruiting people from groups not currently represented at the board level.
• Throughout the season, all CYSO students will participate in age-appropriate conversations about equity, diversity, inclusion, and what this means at CYSO. Topics will include a primer on how to be a good teammate and ally and how to ask for help or report an issue if one occurs. 
• We will survey our students and families so that our community can let us know frequently and anonymously whether they feel included, supported, and heard at CYSO, and if not, what we can do to change.
• We created our Incident Report Form to allow students to anonymously report bullying, harassment, or other concerning behavior within the CYSO community.

• CYSO’s mission is “to inspire and cultivate personal excellence.” We affirm that every student’s identity is an asset to the growth of their personal excellence and the excellence of our community. We believe that we are responsible for each other and to each other in service to our mission. 
• People of Color, Women, LGBTQ people, and people with low income have historically and systematically been excluded from fully participating in the institution of orchestral music. We believe this exclusion has limited the art form we love, and that great music celebrates culture and transcends identity. We believe that orchestras can do anything, and we are committed to broadening the canon (commonly accepted group of musical works)  of “classical” music to include all voices more fully. We reject racism, classism, and all structures that have classed certain types of music as “High Art” and others as “low art.” 
• We acknowledge that depending on where you live, your access to daily in-school music opportunities varies greatly. Chicagoland’s musical training ecosystem is fundamentally inequitable, and a significant opportunity gap exists for instrumental music training. We affirm the right of every child to explore their love of music. We support successful school music programs where they exist and advocate for similar opportunities for all students.
• We recognize that there are barriers to CYSO participation in addition to ensemble tuition, including the cost of private lessons, access to instruments, transportation to Chicago’s loop, language, ability, and other barriers. 
• We believe Chicago is made stronger by a youth orchestra program that reflects the rich cultural diversity of our city.