The League’s 2024 National Conference featured an Inclusive Stages convening attended by Coalition members and Conference delegates. In photo: League staff members and Inclusive Stages facilitators at the session. Photo by Melissa Taylor.
The League of American Orchestras’ pioneering Inclusive Stages program will launch into a full three-year cycle, following a successful pilot year in 2023-24. Made possible by the Sakana Foundation, the program is aimed at increasing racial diversity among musicians in American orchestras. The Inclusive Stages pilot year included building a national Coalition of orchestras and individuals, collecting data from the orchestra field in a series of research initiatives, and creating actionable insights for orchestras. Multiple metrics confirm the success of the pilot, from numbers of participants and quality of participation to actions already taken by Coalition orchestras.
Over the next three years, the Inclusive Stages program will expand the Coalition and scope of activities with a focus on:
–Increasing the number of Coalition members to include youth orchestras, educational institutions, pathways programs, and more;
–Helping orchestras establish best practices and processes for recruitment;
–Establishing systemized trainings for the field, including anti-bias training for audition and tenure committees;
–Fueling Coalition progress with data-driven insights on organizational culture, demographics of orchestra musicians and auditionees, and more;
–Inspiring the orchestra field to take action through new Catalyst Guides addressing audition and tenure practices, inclusion and belonging, and other key topics, all with the understanding that the Coalition orchestras will make measurable progress within three years.
Learn more about Inclusive Stages at https://americanorchestras.org/inclusive-stages/.
