Music schools and conservatories in the United States and abroad focus primarily on training performers; one of the reasons ethnomusicologists have had such difficulty expanding their employment opportunities in such institutions is because they have not given enough thought to how they can productively contribute to performance curricula. The field of ethnomusicology has engaged creatively with many subdisciplines in the humanities and social sciences, of course. But while this focus has resulted in insightful publications, it has typically held little immediate relevance for performers. A surprising number of ethnomusicology programs do not encourage applied music-making of any sort as a required part of training in the discipline. In general, ethnomusicology does not dialogue sufficiently with applied music faculty or students. This chapter begins with reflection on what aspiring performers of the twenty-first century need to know in order to be professionally successful and continues with a consideration of how coursework offerings by ethnomusicologists can be retooled so as to contribute directly to the requirements of students in BM programs: to ear training, music theory, orchestration, junior and senior recitals, and so on. Lastly, the chapter covers an approach to teaching world music courses that focuses both on applied performance and on pressing contemporary issues (community outreach, social justice, financial exploitation, etc.) that link world traditions to other repertoires and make their relevance immediately apparent.
