Diversifying the Symphony

Diversity in our nation’s orchestras continues to be an issue of challenge and controversy. Since the 1990s, when the ASOL conducted their inclusiveness studies, the numbers of African-Americans and Latinos in orchestras have increased very slightly, from under 3% combined to less than 4% combined. As an organization which focuses its efforts on building diversity in the field, the Sphinx Organization has been able to report placement of 4 alumni in major orchestras within the past 2 years. While the news in a smaller snapshot may be encouraging, this continues to mean that representation of those ethnic groups in orchestras which have welcomed our alumni, was increased by 50-100%. Stepping back to evaluate this within a context of a larger picture yields results that are less than thrilling.

Where is the controversy?

Common Theory I: pool. As Music Director for Sphinx, who deals with musicians of color every day and each year when assembling the professional all African-American and Latino Sphinx Symphony, I am suggesting that the pool is very much here. This is a pool of perfectly qualified musicians who would play a critical role in diversification of our orchestras if they were to become a part of them.

Common Theory II: audition process. Outside of historical factors, which are a part of what has shaped our orchestras, there is another aspect: audition process. Are the top minority musicians coming to audition in orchestras?

While the answer to the latter cannot be given unequivocally, as our auditions are largely blind with most orchestras, based on preliminary surveys conducted by Sphinx within its alumni body, a large percentage of young qualified musicians do not appear to be driven to take the auditions. While reasons do vary, a clearly recurrent theme appears to be that orchestras simply do not appeal to young minorities who are looking to build careers in classical music.

As a group, I would like us to explore the “why” of my latter paragraph, as it may, hopefully, lead to theory III: self image and approach of orchestras themselves.