Jessie Montgomery is also a founding member of PUBLIQuartet and a core member of Providence String Quartet. (Monterey County Weekly)
Monterey County Weekly posted an interview March 14, 2014 with Jessie Montgomery, a violinist in the Catalyst Quartet:
Weekly: How did you get involved in the Sphinx Organization?
Jessie Montgomery: Sphinx Organization
started out as a competition for black and Latino string players. All
of us at one point participated. Through it, all of us became longtime
affiliates. They formed Catalyst Quartet from this pool. So we all
competed against each other.
What was the process of becoming a member of the quartet?
It's an unusual way, an unorthodox
model. [The quartet] was formed by the Sphinx Organization, by
laureates, we were all top prize winners. But it's open-ended, like a
marriage without a prenup [laughs]. I've been a member since 2012. The
quartet was formed in 2010. Paul, the violist, joined us [last]
September. We're all pretty happy. It's a good time right now.
Regarding the Sphinx mission of increasing diversity in classical music, how do you support that mission?
We are pretty dedicated to that, as
our name suggests. We program things in a way that features a diverse
background of composers. I'm African-American, young…youngish. There's
[George Walker], Samuel Barber. We also play a piece by Osvaldo Golijov,
of Argentine and Jewish descent, a piece based on a Jewish prayer
called "Tenebrae" and it's one of the most gorgeous things on the
program. These represent a whole bunch of faces of American voices. The
music has to stand out, primary, the quality of the music. But we look
as far as we can to represent a niche program in particular. Audiences
are surprised to have had that experience.
How did you come to like and listen to and eventually play classical music?
All of us have a different story, but I
think in general, for me, I grew up in New York City and went to
community music school. I went to a typical after school music program
called Third Street Music School Settlement, like others in the group.
We all grew up in major cities. I guess I did it so much and loved it so
much that I decided I wanted to do it forever. Like anything you're
passionate about, if you start young enough, the decision becomes very
clear. Around 15 I went for it.
Have you encountered stereotypical reactions, being young and black and listening to classical music?
I didn't really experience it too
much. In New York City it's very diverse, [so was my] music school,
socio-economically and racially. At Juilliard I was one of five other
string players of color out of about 800 music students. It was unusual.
That was alarming. I try not to worry about it too much. Everyone was
there to work. Realizing how few people of color are represented in
classical music, is [an indication] of socio-economic differences of the
patrons, who are listening, their family's ability to provide music
lessons for their kids. We've been very fortunate. We've visited a lot
of schools and we see these things are changing little by little, very
little by little.
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