Voices In Color: Diversity in Classical Music

(Photo of Aaron P. Dworkin by Bruce Giffin, Detroit Public Television)

Voices In Color is a blog which published a post entitled "Diversity in Classical Music" on Aaron P. Dworkin and the Sphinx Organization on Sept. 11, 2007. I added a comment which is reprinted below. Voices In Color wrote:

Yesterday I had a chance to catch an NPR News & Notes interview with Aaron Dworkin an accomplished violinist who created the Sphinx Organization, which helps introduce classical music to more artists of color.

The Sphinx Organization envisions a world in which classical music reflects cultural diversity and plays a role in the everyday lives of youth. The organization’s mission is to increase the participation of Blacks and Latinos in music schools, as professional musicians, as classical music audiences and to administer youth development initiatives in underserved communities through music education.

Sounds like a wonderful organization that's offering our kids opportunities they wouldn't otherwise know about.

I expressed my agreement with the post:

I am delighted by this post on the "News & Notes" broadcast on Sept. 10, 2007. For several years, Aaron Dworkin has been featured as a "Musician of African descent" at my website, www.AfriClassical.com His work is more effective than any other effort known to me. Another barrier to diversity in classical music is the neglect of Black classical composers and musicians in most textbooks on History and Music. My website deals with that issue by profiling 52 composers, conductors and instrumentalists of African descent, and by providing over 100 audio samples of their recordings.