Sunday, May 12, 2019

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: PSO names flutist Shantanique Moore as fellow

Shantanique Moore
Briana Hunter/Polished Graphedy


Jeremy Reynolds

May 9, 2019

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has named flutist Shantanique Moore as its new fellow for the EQT Orchestra Training Program for African American Musicians.

Ms. Moore hails from Detroit, where she currently teaches and performs with the Detroit and Toledo symphonies and other ensembles. Her appointment in Pittsburgh will begin in the 2019-2020 season and last two years.

Fewer than 5 percent of American orchestra players are black, according to the Sphinx Organization, an organization that seeks to increase diversity and minority representation in classical music. Several orchestras and conservatories around the country have developed fellowship programs to specifically address this issue. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is one of the early adopters.

“I used to call myself Dr. Shan as a kid,” Ms. Moore said in a phone interview. “I thought I wanted to be a doctor, and I used to walk around asking for a stethoscope. But as I grew older I realized I couldn’t imagine not playing the flute.”

Ms. Moore, who holds degrees in flute performance from Wayne State University in Detroit, is the eighth OTPAAM fellow to date. Many of the other fellows have won full-time positions in other orchestras either during or after the fellowship.     

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