Only 1.8 percent of U.S. symphony members are African-American. When he was at Peabody, White met with the then-Dean to mull ways to make the institution more diverse and accepting, “because it was weird walking around and not seeing anyone who looks like me. I learned that when you communicate to people what is going on, they will pay attention. They didn’t care that I was only black person in school. I was Richard the tuba player, which is ultimately crazy, because that’s what you want. I’m not sure I want to be Richard the black tuba player. I wanted to be Richard the tuba player.” – The Daily Beast
Tag: sjm
English National Opera Announces Plan To Diversify
Stuart Murphy recalled joining the company and and finding it “really shocking” that 39 of ENO’s 40-strong chorus were white. “We weren’t true to our values, we didn’t represent Britain,” he said. “It just felt strange to me … Young white audiences also think it is weird.” – The Guardian
Ranks Of Women Conductors Grow As BBC Symphony Hires Dalia Stasevska For Principal Guest Post
Stasevska, a 33-year-old Kiev-born Finn who picked up her baton professionally only four years ago, was introduced to the orchestra by its Chief Conductor, fellow Finn Sakari Oramo. — The Guardian
Ariana Grande And The Complications Of Cultural Appropriation
“Appropriation remains one of the hardest-to-talk-about phenomena in pop culture, which is, fundamentally, a hodgepodge of widely circulated ideas that originated in specific subcultures. One line of thought puts it in economic terms: Are marginalized creators being materially harmed and erased? But on another level, there are questions of aesthetics and tastes. Does the pop star draw upon her influences in a way that feels original? Does her work disrespect or honor those influences? Is there a double standard in how her work is received?” – The Atlantic
Playwright Ishmael Reed’s Problems With “Hamilton”
It’s a global phenomenon, and people ask me, “Why take on a global phenomenon?” You know what else is a global phenomenon? Gone With the Wind. I think Hamilton is probably the biggest consumer fraud since The Blair Witch Project. – The Observer (UK)
NY’s Prototype Festival Shows How Hard It Is To Reinvent Opera
Anne Midgette: “Most of them could be called opera, but most of them have little to do with what you might see in an opera house. Opera houses are looking for ways to connect with new audiences; the Prototype festival shows just how far they need to change the template to really try to do it.” – Washington Post
UK Launches Campaign To Expand Music Therapy For Dementia Patients
Research has shown that musical activities have a variety of positive effects for dementia patients, but, despite encouragement from the NHS, financially strapped facilities often put music low on their list of priorities. A new campaign called Music for Dementia 2020 aims to change that. — The Guardian
Retooling Scott Joplin’s ‘Treemonisha’ For The 21st-Century
That’s the project of Toronto theatre company Volcano, which hopes to tour its adaptation — with “an entirely new story” — of Joplin’s 1911 opera to California, D.C., Canada, and Britain next year. Says Volcano’s artistic director, “As far as I can find, the libretto has never been touched. We’re just giving Joplin the help he was denied.” — The Washington Post
19-Year-Old Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason On His Life-Changing Year
He rocketed to fame after performing at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding. “If his star was already in the ascendant before 2018, becoming the first black instrumentalist to win the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year in 2016, it has entered another stratosphere. “- The Guardian
Five Projects That Are Diversifying And Strengthening Classical Music In And Outside The Concert Hall
Of the five that WQXR has chosen to cite and congratulate, one is well-established and well-known, one is newer but has made the news, one’s unglamorous but very useful, one’s an outreach idea we’d never thought of, and one’s not really a project at all (but it involves a lot of heros). — WQXR (New York City)