I frame my book Dvorak’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music as a call to action.
It ends: “If American classical music — our performers and institutions of performance, our conservatories, our agencies of philanthropy — can awaken to the moment at hand, classical music in America may yet acquire a vital future, at last buoyed and directed by a proper past.”
I’m talking about counteracting a condition of “pastlessness” – a failure to explore American cultural roots, a need to pursue a more inclusive American musical narrative. It’s all in my book.
For as long as I can remember, American orchestras have been chastised about a failure to innovate. The response, by and large, has focused on fund-raising, marketing, and board development. But the challenge at hand is not about selling tickets. It’s about re-thinking artistic practice.
And there may at last be a critical mass of like-minded individuals and institutions ready to take the plunge. I am referring to the “Brevard Project” – “Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programming” — debuting this July at the wonderful Brevard Music Festival. The sponsoring organizations, in addition to Brevard itself, are ArtsJournal, Bard College’s training orchestra The Orchestra Now, the Blair School of Music (Vanderbilt University), the Chicago Sinfonietta, the South Dakota Symphony, and the University of Michigan School of Music. When you factor in what’s already happening at these places, it’s an auspicious list.
The Project faculty is also exceptional. Some of the names, in addition to myself, are Leon Botstein, Lorenzo Candelaria, Mark Clague, Lara Downes, JoAnn Falletta, Delta David Gier, Blake-Anthony Johnson, Doug McLennan, Jesse Rosen, George Shirley, and Larry Tamburri.
The dates are July 11 to 16. Conductors, artistic administrators, executive directors, community engagement specialists, conservatory students, and board members are all welcome to apply. The fee, including tuition, housing, and meals, is $600. For information, click here.
Concurrently, Brevard is hosting a “Dvorak’s Prophecy” festival. The dates are July 8 to 15. There will be four concerts and numerous ancillary events. The repertoire includes William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, the world premiere of Dawson’s “Largo” for violin and piano, a rare opportunity to hear Arthur Farwell’s magnificent Hako Quartet, novelties by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Margaret Bonds, etc., etc. The performers include the legendary George Shirley.
Brevard itself is an idyllic retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from Asheville. Temperate weather. No bugs.
For centuries, there was at least a tangential connection between vernacular music and art music, both syntactically and culturally. There was also a broad common practice that created a context for listening and composing (I’m broadening the term “common practice” to include music before 1650 that’s 1) based in the acoustical properties of the Overtone system; 2) has a recognizable pulse; 3) relies on widely-used formal templates, all of which evolve organically through practice instead of a priori theorizing).
My big concern is that the loss of this connection/consensus during the 20th century will be irretrievable. Perhaps we need to find a way to reinvent the art in a way that is, paradoxically, grounded in a consensus that’s both current in popular music and was the basis for Western Art Music pre-1925.