Abstract
The purpose of this project was to arrange underrepresented world music selections for beginning orchestra ensembles. World music repertoire from countries and cultures outside of Western European and North American cultures is severely limited, even more so for the beginning and intermediate levels. This project includes a discussion on the benefits of including all world music in the music and orchestra classrooms and the lack of sufficient resources for orchestra educators as well as a brief look at some of the available repertoire for orchestra through the popular music ordering company J. W. Pepper. Special attention is given to necessary considerations for arranging world music for orchestra as well as the limitations of writing music for beginning string students. Arrangements include “Huwaya Huuwa”, a Somali lullaby found in The Rhythm of Somalia by Qorsho Hassan and Becca Buck (2023), “Maua Mazuri”, a Nigerian children’s song found in Dance Like a Butterfly by Kwasi Dunyo and Karen Howard (2020), and “L’abe Igi Orombo”, a Tanzanian school song found in Harambee! by Kedmon Mapana and Karen Howard (2022). Each arrangement includes cultural context which will be condensed into an informational page included with the score.