The Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, an all-Black and Latin ensemble, performs a program for Black History Month at the Kennedy Center on Jan. 31. In photo: Eugene Rogers conducts the Exigence Vocal Ensemble of the Sphinx Organization in 2018. Photo by Kevin Kennedy.
“A 2016 survey by the League of American Orchestras found that 5 percent of conductors on larger-budget orchestras were Black (that number dipping to 3.6 percent among smaller ensembles),” writes Michael Andor Brodeur in Thursday’s (1/26) Washington Post. “Black composers represent just a tiny fraction of the concert repertoire that makes it to the stage — despite a rich legacy of American classical music by Black artists that seems to grow through scholarship every day. This Black History Month, a wide array of classical offerings happening around Washington highlights the long, proud and unfairly overlooked legacy of Black composers and artists in American classical music, and doubles as a preview of major talents pushing for a more promising future.” The article discusses performances that relate to Black History Month at the Kennedy Center and other venues by the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Choral Arts Society, Damien Sneed, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra with Rachel Barton Pine, Leah Hawkins, Seth Parker Woods, the U.S. Marine Band, and Damien Geter.
