Sunday, December 28, 2008

Stamford Symphony Orchestra Uses Sphinx Organization Artists As Guest Soloists

[Photo of Tai Murray from StocktonSymphony.org]

The Advocate Staff
Posted: 12/28/2008 07:25:27 AM EST
“Draw a mental image of a symphony orchestra concert. Blacks and Latinos don't fit the sketch as musicians or audience members, do they? Actually, multiplicity doesn't play into the photographs of most professional orchestras, either, save for a growing number of Asians in the string sections. Diversity is a hot topic in the symphony world. Not only is the typical classical enthusiast getting longer in the tooth, but orchestras in cities across the country are struggling to reflect the communities they represent. The Stamford Symphony Orchestra's next concerts in January, titled 'American Voices,' will feature guest soloist Tai Murray on violin, and James Reese Europe's 'Castle House Rag.' The concerts mark the start of a new affiliation between the orchestra and Michigan-based Sphinx Organization, a nonprofit that encourages diversity in symphony orchestras in respect to musicians, composers and audience members. The symphony has committed to using one Sphinx artist as a guest soloist each season and has plans to factor diversity into many aspects of its operations.

"'If you start addressing diversity as a challenge and try to find solutions to it, you have to do it on a regular basis,' says SSO musical director Eckart Preu. Barbara Soroca, president of the SSO, has thought about the issue for some time, particularly when the orchestra would perform for Stamford school groups. 'School classes are a microcosm of the community. Stamford is now more than 30 percent Hispanic and black. That's not represented on our stage or any classical orchestra stage. There's a disconnect. The children must wonder, Why doesn't anyone on that stage look like me?'" [Tai Murray is a member of the Ritz Chamber Players; Aaron P. Dworkin is an African American violinist as well as Founder/President of the Sphinx Organization. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com]
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