“ ‘The APO’s mission is to connect people with broader contemporary issues through music,’ … says Jason Miller, executive director of the Bentonville-based Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra,” writes Becca Martin-Brown in Friday’s (7/16) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock). “Pianist Sara Davis Buechner ‘does that,’ Miller says.” Buechner, who is transgender, has a weeklong July residency with the orchestra that includes a concert with the APO and a discussion centered on recent anti-transgender legislation. “Q: Is there a cross-pollination of people who come to your music because you speak out on being transgender and people who actually listen to you about being transgender because they love your music? Buechner: Yes, there seem to be more and more people, particularly younger folks, who come to hear me play because they are aware of LGBTQ issues…. I am a role model for some…. Q: When you do a residency like this, what do you hope will come out of it? Buechner: We all hope the musical events provide a framework for a week of awareness and inclusion…. The message I got from symphonic concerts as a kid [was] that classical music was … a great thing of beauty that everyone could succeed at.”
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