With their main institutions founded on white European models and stubbornly focused on the distant past, classical music and opera have been even slower than American society at large to face racial inequality. Black players represent less than 2 percent of the nation’s orchestras; The Metropolitan Opera has yet to present a work by a black composer.
The protests against police brutality and racial exclusion that have engulfed the country since the end of May have encouraged individuals and organizations to a new awareness of long-standing prejudice, and provided new motivation for change. Nine black artists spoke to The New York Times about steps that could be taken to begin transforming a white-dominated field. These are edited excerpts from the conversations.
The first step is to admit that these organizations are based on a white framework created to benefit white people. Have you done the work to create a structure that really benefits black and brown communities? When that happens, diversity is a natural by-product. There needs to be an intentional hiring of qualified black musicians who know they will bring the products to their audience. Intentionally adding qualified black board members to your organization – that will allow access to these communities that you must bring into the circle. Administratively, the people in the room will bring different perspectives. Chamber groups like mine, Imani Winds, have the ability to be more agile; we can make our own rules and create our own platforms. As a camera presenter, you can support groups that bring darkness and diversity to their shows.
It is the responsibility of the podium leadership to be part of this: who is hired, what repertoire is played, where the orchestra plays. If you’re not willing, for example, to have minority music interns playing subscription concerts because they didn’t audition, that doesn’t make any sense to me. This person needs the opportunity to play this repertoire; you have to be willing to let that happen, and you can’t bow to the blows of full-time players.
In Philadelphia, for a community concert, they once found a high school that was acoustically inferior; aesthetically there is no comparison; The chorus in the audience behind me. It made no sense except for the joy it brought to that community to have the Philadelphia Orchestra in their backyard. They want to feel that they count and are important, and when we go there we are the ones who say yes.
Composer
Jessie Montgomery
I am in my fifth year on the Chamber Music America board, and more than half of the board are people of color. It is very balanced in terms of gender and race; Those changes were implemented through consulting and training work, and facilitated discussions between the board to make sure everyone was on the same page. Going through that process has been revealing and shows how long it takes. We are now equipped to have these discussions on how this can become a member and provide opportunities. And I think presenting organizations need to take the time to get to know the artists. Meeting new artists requires time and commitment; It is a commitment to broaden your perspective.
Driver
Roderick Cox
I would like changes to be made in the way we train musicians at conservatories and universities. Much of our thinking and our perceptions of what good music is is indoctrinated at that stage. I say this because, although I am a person of color, I was guilty of not accepting new voices and styles outside of Beethoven, Schumann, all the usual music of the past. When we start with preconceived notions, we limit ourselves. People are afraid of being uncomfortable, but with discomfort comes growth. If students learn about composers like William Grant Still or Florence Price, and their approaches to making music, they will become more versatile. And we will see that change taking place in our programming; Schools will not only produce principals who want to make Wagner, Strauss, and Mahler. I love these composers. But there are more voices to listen to.
Clarinettist
Anthony McGill
In the last month, have you seen all of these spills, and is it right now when you see: Are we really connected to the communities in which we are doing this work? At the New York Philharmonic, where I am a lead clarinet, I think there has been an incentive to partner with the Harmony Program, which offers music education after school. I am doing the Music Advancement Program at Juilliard; The mission revolves around students from underserved communities. It is being a citizen in that way. The new way is actually to start working and teaching, to start working and having difficult conversations about the state of our field and who we are trying to reach. Be there to help people understand that the orchestra is there for them.
Singer
Lawrence Brownlee
Artistic institutions should focus on representing and truly serving the communities in which they find themselves. There must be community participation, not community outreach. Scope is something you do occasionally. But you are always in the act of participating; It is a constant effort. If there are changes in the administration and composition of the board, all levels of each arts organization, that will extend to how this material is packaged. This is the beginning of the change that can be significant. If we reinvent what the opera or classical music audience is, we will not have the disparities in the people hired, the people who attend, even what is presented, because there will be different people with new ideas.
Composer
Terence Blanchard
It’s like anything else: Organizations need to represent the United States side. Well-meaning people may have blinders. I don’t see it as a sinister plot; I see it as people go with what they feel comfortable with. If we had more representation in leadership, in terms of who is signing the projects, you will have more people bringing things to the table. What I saw at the St. Louis Opera Theater, where I did “Champion” and “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which is going to the Met, is that these people are open to many ideas. But we have to bring them the ideas. We have to open their eyes. I really believe that in the world of artistic music, people cry out for something different. When we did “Champion” in New Orleans, this African-American boy in his 70s said, “If this is opera, I’ll come.” That’s a new audience member that we didn’t have before. “La Bohème” doesn’t mean anything to him. But these contemporary stories do.
Singer
Latonia Moore
Please, in the future, launch with your heart, not just with your eyes and ears. Who gives you goosebumps? Choose them. Some people see a black tenor and think of Otello. Or they see a black soprano and think of Aida. “Who wants to see a Black Cio-Cio San?” You will hear that. But yes, opera is a suspension of disbelief. When someone does “Eugene Onegin”, they often throw someone Russian or speak Russian fluently. It doesn’t have to be what you expect. There are other people who can sing it. When it comes to “Otello”, you can paint everyone blue and paint Desdemona green. When it comes to that, it’s not about color; It’s about the difference.
Composer
Tania Leon
Certain groups of people have felt that they do not belong, because most of the time they did not see people who looked like them on stage. But even if things look good on stage, is that what is happening internally at the institution? It is a familiar type of thing. That person who works in the office goes home and tells the people who are at home, and they generally have other friends. This is how audiences change. It has to be from the inside out. And if the stage reflects society, you can find the best artists to be the ambassadors of those who come and put them in front of the people. This can be the administrator, the person in charge of programming or a member of the orchestra. People have to address the audience, to make them feel “I am one of you.” And you will see: everything will change as if you had no idea.
