How the Colburn School’s Fortissima Program is Welcoming Young Women from Underrepresented Groups to Classical Music

In Tuesday’s I Care If You Listen (7/16), Dalanie Harris writes,  “Ask a few industry veterans about why diversity in classical music has been largely stagnant for decades and you’ll probably get some iteration of the same answer: the pipeline problem. The ‘pipeline’ refers to the many developmental stages a musician must pass through to get to a sustainable career. Over the years, there have been several initiatives aimed at various points in the pipeline … But statistics [from the League of American Orchestras] show that [the various programs have] done little to impact diversity in professional orchestras …. Enter Fortissima: the Colburn School’s artistic and leadership development program for high school-aged women from racial minorities in classical music. Established by Colburn’s Center for Innovation and Community Impact in 2017, Fortissima started off as a local pilot program in Los Angeles. Now, it attracts young musicians from all over the United States for virtual one-on-one mentorship and a week-long intensive on the Colburn campus. The program is led by Music Director Jannina Norpoth, a Grammy-nominated violinist and member of the improvising ensemble PUBLIQuartet. Each year, Norpoth recruits a team of accomplished women of color in classical music to mentor the cohort.”