Project STEP Marks Forty Years of Music Training and Support for Young People from Underrepresented Communities

In Wednesday’s (6/7) Boston Globe (subscription required), Nicole Kagan writes, “Classical orchestras lack diversity. For 40 years, Project STEP—short for String Training Education Program—has been working to change that. The Boston-based nonprofit, which provides classical music training and educational support to underrepresented students, will celebrate four decades with a gala at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum…. The evening will include performances from current STEP students and faculty, acclaimed alumni, and guest artist-activist Zakiyyah…. The event’s goal, [Project STEP Executive Director Josué] Gonzalez explained, is to bring past and present members together to recognize the legacy of Project STEP. Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra founded the program in 1982. Since, it’s introduced more than 2,000 local students to classical music and provided them with tools to perform including instruments, audition prep, and scholarships. ‘A lot of other organizations are just now kind of waking up to this issue of accessibility,’ Gonzalez said, who explained that the classical music genre has historically and systematically disregarded BIPOC. ‘We have been fighting for it for the past 40 years.’ Gonzalez said that Project STEP hopes to be a model for the institutions trying to do similar work.”