Culturally responsive pedagogy encourages teachers to connect the curriculum to students' cultural identities and foster their development of critical consciousness. However, there is limited empirical research into the culturally responsive practices of instrumental music educators in the United States, and the conventional repertoire of United States band and orchestra programs may hamper music teachers' efforts in this arena. In this study, we sought to understand how and in what ways middle level (5th-8th grade) instrumental music teachers have attempted to connect their band and orchestra programs to the musics of the local community. Using emergent qualitative content analysis of an open-ended survey question, we examined the responses of 727 music teachers from across the United States who taught band and/or orchestra during 2020-2021. We found that over half of the respondents were attempting to connect their programs to the local community, but that many of their efforts were not fully aligned with the tenets of culturally responsive pedagogy and were limited by numerous barriers. From these results, we suggest areas of improvement within the field of music education, particularly concerning repertoire access and preservice and inservice professional development. [Note: The volume (47) and the publication year (2022) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct volume number is 48 and the correct publication year is 2023.]