Diversifying the Symphony

Mar 01 2007
Browse archives for March 01, 2007
Aaron Flagg

Aaron A. Flagg was named dean of The Hartt School of the University of Hartford in March of 2009 by President Walter Harrison and Provost Lynn Pasquerella. As dean, he oversees a performing arts college for music, dance, and theatre with approximately 750 undergraduate and graduate students and 250 faculty and staff.

Originally from Baldwin Park, CA, Dr. Flagg is a professional trumpet player and received his undergraduate and master's degrees from The Juilliard School and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His diverse experience includes concerto, recital, orchestral, and chamber music performances in classical, jazz, and new music.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Hartford, he was Executive Director of Music Conservatory of Westchester (2005-2009), a graduate faculty member and Director of Educational Outreach at The Juilliard School (2000-2005), and Director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Connecticut (1999-2000).

As a trumpet player, Dr. Flagg has given concerto and other solo performances with orchestras, toured with chamber music groups, and performed numerous recitals. He has given master classes and recitals at Jackson State University and Fayetteville State University, and presented lectures at the Curtis Institute, Oberlin College, and Carnegie Hall.

His jazz performances include the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Music Outreach Jazz Ensemble, and the Aaron Flagg Quartet. He has toured with the Tania Leon's Son Sonora Ensemble; recorded with Roberta Flack and operatic soprano Barbara Conrad; and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Manhattan Virtuosi, Lansing Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Gladys Knight, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among others.

Dr. Flagg is currently a board member of the League of American Orchestras in New York. He has served on numerous grant panels and was New York Metro Area chapter chair for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. He has been a consultant with arts presenting organizations and universities around the country, while also being a teaching artist for 15 years with organizations including the Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Education, New York Philharmonic Education, Memphis Arts Council, Guggenheim Museum, and the New York City Opera. He was named a national spokesman for the Music Educators National Conference in Virginia in 1999 and received the Rising Star Award for Westchester's "Forty under Forty" in 2008.

All posts from Aaron Flagg
0

No comments yet.

Add your comment
Posted in

Spread the love

On Day 3, Alberto detailed the public relations efforts of his orchestra on behalf of a newly hired colleague. Although I appreciate the example of individual hires in individual orchestras, such as Damon Gupton who I know from Juilliard as a theatre student, my point was about the entire industry. The Phoenix Suns’ touting the hiring of Steve Nash is different from the NBA’s creating ways to celebrate diversity and excellence. This type of public relations support is important, but frankly it’s what individual orchestras should be doing anyway.

Alberto also stated, “The problem is the final step, from university/conservatory to the professional orchestral world.”

This relates to my Day 2 point about the “pipeline” issue. Both higher education and professional orchestras should feel responsible for feeding and monitoring a diverse talent “pipeline.” Every major industry and university does. As mentioned before, I know that Juilliard has made serious efforts to increase its minority enrollment and retention by encouraging and mentoring wonderful young players such as Laura Snyder’s son and Sphinx award winner Jared. As a Juilliard faculty member and administrator, I participated in a recruiting program that had us travel to places where talent is often overlooked, such as Crenshaw High School in downtown Los Angeles and Cass Tech High School in Detroit. Similarly, orchestras can and should do their part. An example of a missed opportunity was a research project at Columbia College’s Center for Black Music Research that created a database of minority orchestral players from across the country for professional orchestras to reference to diversify the audition pool. Frankly, there was little support from the orchestra field for this project and little use of that rich database.

We should be aware of the history and number of fellowship programs over the decades in orchestras. ICSOM’s publication Senza Sordino lists an article entitled “Minority Orchestral Training Program” back in 1978. Also, many efforts were supported by the Music Assistance Fund, which was founded at the New York Philharmonic in 1965 and originally supported all orchestral instruments. Today, there are a few programs, such as the Detroit Symphony’s African American Fellowship and the recently created Diversity Fellowship at the Chicago Symphony, to support this final step. Although laudable, it is instructive to know the motivation behind these initiatives. In Chicago’s case, a key board member made this a priority for the institution and personally funded a large part. In Detroit’s case, the Symphony was threatened in 1989 with losing $1.5 million in state subsidy if it didn’t hire a second African-American. The fellowship was one result and has since produced the orchestra’s current principal trombonist.

What is your orchestra doing to recruit diverse talent to auditions? What is your section’s view of this? What is your view of this? Does your orchestra (or you) care how your community feels about this issue? or do they (you) just care how the orchestra feels?

If it is the latter, how does this attitude differ from 19th American orchestra musicians that formed as a private clubs to play for themselves?

About the author

Aaron Flagg

Aaron A. Flagg was named dean of The Hartt School of the University of Hartford in March of 2009 by President Walter Harrison and Provost Lynn Pasquerella. As dean, he oversees a performing arts college for music, dance, and theatre with approximately 750 undergraduate and graduate students and 250 faculty and staff.

Originally from Baldwin Park, CA, Dr. Flagg is a professional trumpet player and received his undergraduate and master's degrees from The Juilliard School and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His diverse experience includes concerto, recital, orchestral, and chamber music performances in classical, jazz, and new music.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Hartford, he was Executive Director of Music Conservatory of Westchester (2005-2009), a graduate faculty member and Director of Educational Outreach at The Juilliard School (2000-2005), and Director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Connecticut (1999-2000).

As a trumpet player, Dr. Flagg has given concerto and other solo performances with orchestras, toured with chamber music groups, and performed numerous recitals. He has given master classes and recitals at Jackson State University and Fayetteville State University, and presented lectures at the Curtis Institute, Oberlin College, and Carnegie Hall.

His jazz performances include the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Music Outreach Jazz Ensemble, and the Aaron Flagg Quartet. He has toured with the Tania Leon's Son Sonora Ensemble; recorded with Roberta Flack and operatic soprano Barbara Conrad; and performed with the New York Philharmonic, Manhattan Virtuosi, Lansing Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Gladys Knight, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among others.

Dr. Flagg is currently a board member of the League of American Orchestras in New York. He has served on numerous grant panels and was New York Metro Area chapter chair for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. He has been a consultant with arts presenting organizations and universities around the country, while also being a teaching artist for 15 years with organizations including the Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Education, New York Philharmonic Education, Memphis Arts Council, Guggenheim Museum, and the New York City Opera. He was named a national spokesman for the Music Educators National Conference in Virginia in 1999 and received the Rising Star Award for Westchester's "Forty under Forty" in 2008.

View all posts Author website

Leave a Reply