News and music – and social justice – to start your week.
We at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter community in striving for justice. Today we will focus on some of the conversations that musicians have been having regarding the current climate and how to move forward.
Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, pictured above, released a statement and performance through his social media channels in response to the current protests. Watch it, and read a conversation that McGill had with NPR’s Tom Huizenga about why he chose to create and post it, at Deceptive Cadence.
NewMusicBox spoke with seven musicians about how artists can respond to injustice. Hear from Marcos Balter, Eun Lee, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Pamela Z, George Lewis, Courtney Bryan, and Nathalie Joachim about how we as musicians can use this time to move forward. WPA is proud to have supported Eun Lee’s The Dream Unfinished.
The Dallas News reports that the DSO is taking action by announcing concert on Nov. 11 to honor those who have died at the hands of police. According to Kim Noltemy, President of the DSO, “As a first step, this concert will use music to unite and heal and to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and deserved to be honored on a national level.” The concert is being planned with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre and will also serve as a fundraiser for Project Unity. We at WPA are happy to see two of our featured bloggers — Tim Diovanni, the author of the Dallas News article, and composer Quinn Mason, whose music will be featured in the concert. (Here is Quinn’s article “On Diversity in Music.”)
Elizabeth de Brito, who creates the fantastic radio program “The Daffodil Perspective,” writes an open letter of apology, by way of acknowledging her own internalized racism and committing to doing better. You can read it here. Thank you, Elizabeth, for your openness, your honesty, and your commitment to face the challenge and do the work we are all called to do.
Please let us know your thoughts — is classical music relevant at this time of crisis? News and plans that we have missed? [email protected]