Brandi Waller-Pace

Brandi Waller-Pace (they/she) is a Fort Worth-based musician, educator, organizer, and scholar-activist whose work is driven by centering the narratives of oppressed people and building equity in music learning and performing spaces, organizations, and communities. They are the Founder/Executive Director of the nonprofit Decolonizing the Music Room and Creator/Organizer of the Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival. A graduate of Howard University, Brandi holds a Bachelor and Master of Music in Jazz Studies. They are fully certified in Orff Schulwerk and have completed Kodály level I and Gordon Music Learning Theory levels I and II. 

 
During their 12-year tenure teaching general music, Brandi served as a mentor teacher and co-wrote district music curriculum. In 2019 and 2020, they served on the Texas African American Studies Course Curriculum Advisory Team, which helped to formulate curriculum standards for Texas’ first state-approved African American Studies course. Brandi currently presents nationally and internationally on several topics, including old time music, jazz, decolonizing and antiracist approaches to music education, Blackness in American roots music, and educational/organizational equity. 

 
A singer and multi instrumentalist, Brandi performs jazz, neo-soul, and old time/roots music. Brandi has co-produced, curated artist lineups, and performed with Bluegrass Pride, The Bluegrass Situation, and PineCone. Their writing can be found in publications including the New York Times, The Bluegrass Situation, Music Education Journal, and The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. Brandi is also Program Manager for American Composers Orchestra, Program Manager for the Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship and sits on the board of directors of Folk Alliance International.