Music in the formal education system in Jamaica today offers multicultural variety. Students may choose to study in the tradition of instrumental European music by taking the series of music examinations set by Britain, and/or study Caribbean folk and popular music and Africa America Jazz traditions. Studying this variety of musical genres would not have been possible in the formal system up to the mid-1970s, since only European music was taught. The overwhelming emphasis was on instrumental and choral performance, whereas today learning activities are much more varied, and sometimes include composition. This article discusses the contribution made by an Australian-born music educator, Pamela O’Gorman, in moving music education from a colonial paradigm that saw only European music as worthy of serious study, to a postcolonial paradigm that challenged the prominence of European music and advocated a more multicultural approach.