Janet Welby

Position
Assistant Professor

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Dr. Janet Welby is a scholar of diversity in music and music education, seeing ways to bring diversity into the music classroom. Along with global music courses, she has taught in the areas of music theory, conducting, and pedagogy. As a musician, she conducts choirs, performs and teaches piano, has performed on clarinet and recorder, and has built a repertoire of musical compositions that have been performed in the Boston area. Prior to her position at Berklee, she was a public school elementary music teacher in the Reading and Arlington, Massachusetts, school systems. In addition to her position at Berklee, Dr. Welby is an assistant teaching professor and program supervisor of student teachers at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Career Highlights
  • Author of the “Global Music” chapter in Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music (edited by Suzanne L. Burton)
  • Dissertation: "How does a Euro-Western trained music teacher describe and understand his positionality, and how does this influence his instructional choices in an urban, diverse classroom? A portrait of goodness."
  • Thesis: "When resources are scarce, can an elementary music teacher create a high quality music program using existing methods found in multicultural music?"
Awards
  • Recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award for the University of Massachusetts, Lowell Music Department (2022)
  • Recipient of the Society for General Music in Massachusetts Award for Excellence in General Music (2013)
  • Member of staff at First Parish Bedford, honored as part of a national “Breakthrough Congregation” for growth of programs (2012)
In Their Own Words

What is "World Music?" As a white, cisgender, able-bodied, Euro-Western musically trained woman, how can I bring diversity into the music classroom and be an ally to underrepresented groups?