Unsung Composer Initiative

The Unsung Composer Initiative is something that we have been and will continue to conduct across all of our programs.  It is imperative for young musicians to learn about and play composers who have been historically underrepresented in racial, ethnic, and cultural heritages; genders; and sexual orientations.  If we are tasking ourselves with helping to create the next generation of musical citizens, then how can we not make sure that all of our students, from chamber music, to orchestra, to jazz, to composition, conducting and musical theater incorporate learning about, studying and playing these composers. When we won our Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance, the three composers that we highlighted were all black women – some of whose work had never been recorded before. We will continue to look for ways to further this initiative and make it more prevalent in our programming for concerts, invitees to master classes and the overall direction in which we educate our students.