Despite national recommendations—such as those in the NAfME Blueprint for Improving the Music Teaching Profession (2023)—calling for more inclusive admissions and curricular practices, students whose musical expertise lies outside Western classical traditions (e.g., hip-hop, pop, country, and contemporary church music) continue to face systemic barriers. These include audition requirements that privilege classical performance, curricula that marginalize informal and popular music learning, and institutional cultures that narrowly define musicianship (Tyson, 2023; Parker, 2023; Kruse, 2023; Zullinger, 2025). Previously, researchers suggested that music students with diverse musical identities often experience cognitive dissonance as they reconcile their personal musicianship with institutional expectations (Fiorentino, 2020; Isbell & Stanley, 2018). However, little is known about how pre-service teachers from popular and vernacular backgrounds negotiate these tensions within teacher preparation programs. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of pre-service music teachers with significant backgrounds in popular or vernacular musical traditions as they navigate conservatory-style music teacher education programs. For the purposes of this study, a "popular or vernacular musician” is defined as an individual who acquires, creates, and performs music through informal or community-based learning processes, engaging with contemporary or culturally situated genres rather than exclusively through formal conservatory training. Examples include rock, pop, folk, blues, gospel, Cajun, hip hop, and more.Guided by a transcendental phenomenology (Moustakas, 1994), data will be collected through in-depth interviews with pre-service music teachers across multiple institutions. Data will be analyzed through a process of phenomenological reduction (horizontalization, reduction and elimination, and clustering and thematizing), imaginative variation, and synthesis to an essence. Findings are expected to identify both the systemic inequities that restrict inclusivity in music teacher education and the interpersonal and institutional supports that might facilitate student success.Ultimately, through this research, we hope to make suggestions for admissions policies, curricular design, and faculty development initiatives that recognize diverse forms of musicianship. By centering the voices of students historically marginalized in conservatory environments, the study contributes to reimagining music teacher education as a more inclusive, equitable, and representative space that reflects the full spectrum of contemporary musical practice. Data collection is currently in progress and will be completed in December of 2025. Analysis will be completed in the Spring 2026 semester. Data will be ready for presentation in the Summer of 2026.