Artists featured in the New York Philharmonic’s Afromodernism: Music of the African Diaspora festival include (clockwise from upper left): Seth Parker Woods, Nathalie Joachim, Carlos Simon, and Thomas Wilkins.
In Wednesday’s (10/16) New York Times, Javier C. Hernández writes, “At the New York Philharmonic’s festival Afromodernism: Music of the African Diaspora, the composer Nathalie Joachim plans to showcase the richness of Black musical expression … Black artists have long struggled to be seen or heard in classical music. And despite some recent progress, they remain vastly underrepresented among orchestra players, soloists, composers and conductors. But this week, Black musicians will be front and center at the Philharmonic, which is devoting a series of concerts and events to the music of the African diaspora. On Thursday and Friday, the orchestra will play works by living composers like Joachim and Carlos Simon and revered figures like William Grant Still … On Saturday, the orchestra will host a Young People’s concert focused on diasporic experiences. Later this month, the Philharmonic will also present a concert by the International Contemporary Ensemble … featuring a variety of Black composers…. The share of Black orchestra players has barely shifted in the past few years, rising to 2.4 percent in the 2022-23 season, up from 1.8 percent a decade earlier, according to a study by the League of American Orchestras…. While composers and performers praised the Afromodernism festival, they said the Philharmonic and other classical music ensembles should more regularly feature Black artists.”
