Elizabeth Taylor-McMullen (Liz) is principal euphonium of the Little Rock Winds, 2nd baritone for the Natural State Brass Band, founding member of the Toad Suck Tuba Quartet, and has also recently performed on tuba with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santa Cruz de La Sierra in Bolivia. Liz has traveled extensively and been fortunate to have the opportunity to play euphonium in ensembles in Vienna, Berlin, Amman, Dubai, and Kuwait City. She has a bachelor's degree in music with an emphasis in education from the University of Arkansas where she studied with Ben Pierce, and a master’s degree in music performance from the University of Central Arkansas where she studied with Gail Robertson. Liz graduated from UCA with a second bachelor’s degree in Spanish in May of 2025. She is an administrator in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas and a first degree black belt in taekwondo.
Lecture: Some composers love to use slang or hyper-specific terms in their titles and program notes as a powerful form of self-expression, but that can be a problem. That same expressive language can easily leave listeners and performers excluded, especially if they come from a different background. We'll look closely at real-world examples where this kind of language accidentally leaves people out, cutting across different music styles, time periods, and languages. Most importantly, you’ll leave with practical, quick strategies for doing your own linguistic research when you come across these potentially exclusionary terms.
