Educator, researcher, and violist Dr. Richard Greene responded to my post on diversity (Diversity is Everywhere, Except Classical Music) by sending me an article he published last year in the Philadelphia Inquirer. With his permission, I quote some passages from it.
Diversity
Classical Music: The Trickle-Down Effect?
You may have seen the article by Leon Botstein October 3rd in the Wall Street Journal Online: The Unsung Success of Classical Music. Botstein writes:
The heralding of the demise of classical music is based on flimsy evidence. The number of concert venues, summer festivals, performing ensembles and overall performances in classical music and opera has increased exponentially over the last four decades. There are currently nearly 400 professional orchestras in America, according to the League of American Orchestras,
This is What I Mean When I Write About Diversity
An upcoming concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Oct. 23-25:
The Inca Trail
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Jessica Warren-Acosta, Andean flutes
Kenneth Olsen, cello
Diversity Reprised
Earlier this week, our fearless blogmaster, Drew McManus headlined the main blog site Inside the Arts with my comments about Diversity. Maybe the topic doesn’t have legs. Or maybe we all have more important things on our minds right now, but I see classical radio being passed by. I’d like you to add this topic to your mental archive and let it percolate.
I’ve gotten comments back about finding ways to bring diverse audience members into our western tradition, and a comment about education being the key to diversity. Yet I want to know what we could do now — today — to include more people. How can we make our product attractive to more than just 82% white people?