Student musicians from Equity Arc perform with veterans from Armed Services military bands, led by Rodney Dorsey.
In Sunday’s (3/16) “60 Minutes” on CBS News, Scott Pelley reports, “The United States Marine Band was founded in 1798…. Today, 135 Marines still perform the score of the White House from parties to inaugurations. So, there was excitement, last year, when the Marines judged a contest for teenage musicians. The winners would perform with the band. Thirty students were chosen. The concert was scheduled. But, last month, it was cancelled. President Trump had issued his executive order against diversity programs, and the young musicians were Black, Hispanic, Indian and Asian. Because they were silenced, many wanted to hear them, including veterans of military bands who gathered in an improvised orchestra of equity that you might call America’s own. This past Sunday, at the Music Center at Strathmore, near Washington, 22 students who had lost their chance to play tuned up with the military band veterans for the concert … All the [student musician] contestants had been organized by a Chicago-based nonprofit called Equity Arc, which connects student musicians of color with mentors and opportunities. and here’s why—American orchestras today are 80% White, 11% Asian, 5% Hispanic and 2% Black…. With the active-duty Marines ordered to stand down, Equity Arc reached out to retirees who answered the call … former band members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Westpoint, the Naval Academy and the Marines.”
