[contextly_auto_sidebar] I have dedicated my professional career to providing an equitable music education experience to those who face barriers to receive it. Almost all of our students and families that I have been serving through Play On Philly are of color (African-American, Hispanic and Southeast Asian) and lower middle class or below. I usually speak about the inequalities of opportunities that this population receives and have built a socially conscious orchestral training program that removes all the barriers of access: tuition, … [Read more...]
Diversity in the Key of Opportunity
Since the age of twelve, I have known that I wanted to be a professional musician. The sound of brass playing really caught my ear; it was versatile - bold, articulate, sweet, and mournful - and the trombone in classical and jazz contexts possessed all of those qualities. Like all seven year olds, my arms weren't long enough to reach all seven positions and my father started me on trumpet instead. The plan was to switch to trombone when my arms were longer, but the years went by and the trumpet still fed my interests. I was different than … [Read more...]
Orchestra’s Coda to Diversity: Draggin’ a Bit…
In 2007, the music critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin, wrote a sobering article about the lack of minorities on stage, throughout the audience, back in the administrative offices, and in the board room of America's top orchestras. He described a valiant effort the orchestra made over twenty years ago to tackle these issues, but it was not nearly enough to fill the gaps. When Peter posed the question "What has been standing between the orchestra and progress all these years?", the answers came from all over: they were … [Read more...]