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For decades, American orchestras have struggled with a lack of diversity among their musicians. They鈥檝e changed auditions, set up fellowships and diversified their concert programs. But the largest U.S. orchestras remain mostly white.
Over the past 20 years, has employed three Black musicians full time, but none now. It has four Latino musicians. The situation is not much different at the , which has one Latino musician and two Black musicians. Both orchestras employ more Asian and Asian American musicians, with 14 at the Dallas Symphony and 11 at the Fort Worth Symphony.
After the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020, U.S. orchestras responded to calls for action by featuring more composers of color and than ever.
But two years later, 鈥渇ar too little has been done鈥� to change how orchestras hire and keep their musicians, says the , which was launched this week by Black musicians from more than 40 orchestras.
Orchestras agree they need to better reflect the communities they serve so that more audiences 鈥� especially those historically underrepresented in concert halls 鈥� will feel welcome.
They see this as vital to staying relevant in an increasingly diversifying nation. In Dallas, non-Latino white people made up 28.8% of the population in 2020, with Blacks at 24.3% and Latinos at 41.5%, U.S. census figures show.
Several orchestras have addressed the problem through fellowships. Possibly the most successful has been the , which began in 1990 after Michigan legislators threatened to withhold funding the year before if the orchestra didn鈥檛 bring on more Black musicians. It had only one at that time.
The fellowship has placed one to two musicians in the orchestra for two-year stints. Of the 20 total fellows, two joined the Detroit Symphony 鈥� one of the 25 biggest budget orchestras in America 鈥� as full-time members.
One other fellow plays in a U.S. orchestra among the top 25, while others won jobs in Alabama, Colorado, Phoenix and even Thailand. Still others became teachers and freelancers, or arts administrators. All are still involved in music.
Cole Randolph, an African American cellist, started the Detroit fellowship during the pandemic, and felt welcomed into the orchestra. He did mock auditions and took lessons with players in the section, who pushed him to get better with honest feedback. He says this training helped him win the audition to join the cello section last year.
Still, fellowships at U.S. orchestras haven鈥檛 made a significant impact on the racial diversity of full-time orchestral musicians. concluded that fellowships 鈥渁re not, in and of themselves, a solution to the persistent racial homogeneity of orchestras.鈥� Of the 94 fellows for whom data was available, 39 (or 41%) played in orchestras 鈥� though not all were full time 鈥� 16 (or 17%) were soloists, freelancers or orchestra substitutes and 16 were teachers, the study found.
A deep look at efforts to boost diversity in orchestras shows there鈥檚 more work to do. Barriers range from being able to afford an instrument and travel to auditions, to combating classical music鈥檚 image as a white art form.
Executives and musicians interviewed for this story say orchestras need to address issues of access and retention. But there鈥檚 no consensus on the best solutions, and no easy answers.
Caen Thomason-Redus, vice president of inclusion and learning at the , underscores the need for change.
鈥淲e should not persist as racially non-diverse organizations,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not healthy. For our own sake, we need to fix it.鈥�
Blind auditions help, but haven鈥檛 increased racial diversity
In the 1970s and 1980s, orchestras across the country began holding 鈥渂lind鈥� auditions to address a lack of gender and racial diversity. They used a screen to separate candidates from the audition committee.
Almost immediately, women won more jobs, and the gender gap among orchestral musicians started to shrink. Nowadays, orchestras are .
But the screens didn鈥檛 help increase racial diversity.
In 2014, Asians made up 9.1% of musicians in the country鈥檚 orchestras, according to the most recent data from the League of American Orchestras. U.S. census data from 2020 shows that Asians make up about 7% of the nation鈥檚 population.
Other races and ethnicities are less represented.
Black musicians made up 1.8% of orchestral musicians in 2014, according to the data, while Latino musicians made up 2.5%. The numbers were even lower among major orchestras, with Black musicians composing 1.2% and Latino musicians 1.6% of all members in those groups.
鈥淲e need to acknowledge that the system we have was good for solving some problems, but not others,鈥� says Thomason-Redus, who was an African American flute fellow at the Detroit Symphony from 2003-05. He later worked in administration in the orchestra. 鈥淎nd we need to acknowledge that those other problems are just as threatening to our organizations.鈥�
Some orchestras put up screens through all audition rounds, while others take the screen away in the finals, a move that allows for bias.
Musicians of color interviewed for this story say they prefer screens in all rounds.
鈥淚 do take pride in the fact that I made it through and they didn鈥檛 know who I was the whole time,鈥� says Randolph, with the Detroit Symphony. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to get any extra points by being a minority.鈥�
How orchestras are recruiting Black, Latino musicians
It鈥檚 a challenge getting to auditions. Candidates must travel and stay overnight in hotels 鈥� costs that quickly add up. Orchestras typically don鈥檛 pay for the expenses, unlike in the corporate world. And due to , the costs can disproportionately affect musicians of color.
, a Detroit-based nonprofit, leads a program that helps with the financial burden by partnering with orchestras to give Black and Latino musicians funds for travel, hotel stays, audition training and incidental expenses. Called the , the program is a partnership between Sphinx, and the League of American Orchestras.
Among the recipients of the audition grant was Joshua Elmore, who is Black. He prevailed over 100 candidates last year to win the principal bassoon position with the Fort Worth Symphony. (Elmore declined to speak with The Dallas Morning News for this article.)
, U.S. orchestras are recruiting Black and Latino musicians. And orchestra members are giving lessons and holding mock auditions for Sphinx candidates.
Orchestras also are bringing in Black and Latino substitutes through the Sphinx partnership. Principal players at both the Dallas and Fort Worth symphony orchestras have listened to recordings of Sphinx candidates to select subs to appear in the ensembles. Subbing lets musicians learn directly about an orchestra鈥檚 sound and expectations.
鈥淥ur goal is to bring in the best possible talent 鈥� whether we鈥檙e auditioning for the core musicians in the orchestra or bringing in soloists or guest conductors,鈥� says , a white man and president and CEO of the FWSO. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important to cast our net as broadly as possible.鈥�
A lack of data makes it harder for American orchestras to measure their failures and successes. Most, if not all, haven鈥檛 kept track of the racial makeup of audition candidates.
But some orchestras now ask candidates to anonymously submit information about their race and ethnicity after their auditions. The Detroit Symphony also asks candidates to reflect on what it can do to increase the diversity of its audition pool.
鈥淭o make change, you need a place to start,鈥� says Erik R枚nmark, a white man and CEO of the Detroit Symphony. 鈥淵ou need to have data to compare it to.鈥�
Black and Latino musicians have a higher representation in U.S. music schools than they do in the nation鈥檚 orchestras.
At the Juilliard School, in the current academic year, 6.8% of students are Black and 7.9% are Hispanic. Locally, the University of North Texas College of Music reports that Black and Hispanic students respectively make up 5.1% and 19% of the student body. But these statistics account for studies in addition to classical performance, like dance and drama at Juilliard, music education at UNT and jazz at both schools.
Looking beyond the sound of the player
After winning the audition, musicians work to achieve tenure. The process varies based on the orchestra, but usually takes between one and two years. At the end of that period, a committee typically consisting of orchestra members and the music director makes its decision.
Once musicians have tenure, they often stay until they retire or move to another orchestra. Turnover tends to be low at orchestras with the highest budgets. All of this makes it more difficult for orchestras to quickly diversify their ranks.
The tenure committee prioritizes the musical ability of candidates first and foremost, but also considers their personalities.
There can be cases where a musician鈥檚 personality doesn鈥檛 fit in with the orchestra, says , a white woman and CEO of the Dallas Symphony. Sometimes a player doesn鈥檛 want to help with education efforts, go to donor events or serve on committees. For associate principal and principal positions, leadership skills are also important.
Thomason-Redus says the process makes it 鈥減retty easy to say someone doesn鈥檛 fit in,鈥� whether the candidate talks differently or eats different types of foods.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of subjectivity to tenure and very low accountability,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e lose a lot of good people because of that.鈥�
He suggests considering issues of equity and differences in race, ethnicity, sexual identity and gender.
He also believes orchestras are missing out by focusing mainly on how musicians sound. They could consider whether players like to compose, teach or create their own chamber music programs.
鈥淲e just look at the person as a player,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 the healthiest thing for orchestras. That鈥檚 why we need to discuss the qualities we need in musicians.鈥�
, the organization suggests evaluating candidates beyond how they sound. Orchestras could consider the ability of the musician to serve as a 鈥渃ultural ambassador,鈥� meaning whether the player could teach and serve as a role model for others in the community.
While this sounds good on paper, says Randolph with the Detroit Symphony, Black and Latino musicians may wonder if they were brought on because their playing was 鈥渏ust good enough鈥� and because of their race.
Redefining culture, reimagining fellowships
One way to overcome classical music鈥檚 image as a white art form is to feature more composers of color, and more contemporary ones, too. , for example, is playing more , but not as many by Latinos.
Randolph feels more comfortable at the Detroit Symphony because it programs music by African Americans. When he looks up their music on Spotify, he notices the Detroit Symphony recorded it in the past. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been committed to it for a while,鈥� he says. 鈥淏efore it was 鈥榗ool,鈥� like it is now.鈥�
Executives say it鈥檚 also important to create a company culture that values diversity, equity and inclusion. To meet these goals, orchestras are setting up DEI committees and offering trainings for musicians and administrative staff.
Though he鈥檚 only been at the Dallas Symphony for about three years, , who is white, has seen a sea change. The musicians, he says, are taking issues surrounding racial diversity 鈥渕ore seriously than ever.鈥� Nickson helped pick Sphinx candidates to appear as subs in the Dallas Symphony and has given free lessons to students in southern Dallas through the orchestra鈥檚 .
In addition to cultural changes, it may help for more orchestras to set up programs designed for musicians of color. Reimagining fellowships could better serve these musicians, says Afa Dworkin, who was born to Azeri and Jewish parents in Russia and is now president and artistic director of the Sphinx Organization.
鈥淥ur goal shouldn鈥檛 be just a performative gesture that gets a headline,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t should be that orchestras look like the communities in which we reside. So if we want that diversity, we should think of every possible way to achieve it.鈥�
One idea is to increase both the number of musicians and the number of years in fellowships, though more fellows would need more funding.
, for example, announced in March the creation of a fellowship for three string players from underrepresented backgrounds, including African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans. Fellows will take lessons with orchestra members and perform with the ensemble for up to three years.
Orchestras also could benefit from considering ways for fellows to work toward permanent, full-time positions, Dworkin says. Law firms already use this kind of apprenticeship model.
This would make sense in orchestras, Dworkin argues, because apprentices would have spent years studying the sound of the group. Apprentices could gain entry into the orchestra through a separate audition or an audition along with outside candidates.
Mariana Cottier-Bucco, a Latina violinist in the Dallas Symphony, first joined the orchestra as . This program, which is now defunct, let string players recently graduated from major conservatories and universities perform with the orchestra in select concerts over two years.
鈥淚t provided me that extra step in between being a student and being a professional orchestral player,鈥� Cottier-Bucco says in an email. She later won an audition to become a full-time member. 鈥淚 think many people could benefit from the transition that is provided with a program like this.鈥�
Randolph disagrees with the idea of apprentices joining the orchestra through a separate audition process. It could alienate the musicians hired through the apprenticeship from their colleagues, he says. Some players compete 鈥�20, 30 times鈥� for their spots in the orchestra.
Oscar Garcia, a Latino trumpet player in the Fort Worth Symphony, likes the idea of the apprenticeship for training purposes, but also says it shouldn鈥檛 lead to a separate audition.
Garcia stresses the importance of education initiatives and motivating younger generations of musicians. He would like to see more partnerships between orchestras and local high schools and universities to help develop talent.
One example of this is in Cincinnati. In 2016, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra teamed up with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music to establish . The two-year program allows graduate-level string players from underrepresented backgrounds to perform in the orchestra for five subscription series a year and provides them with free tuition at the conservatory. Of the 26 total fellows, two have won positions at major symphony orchestras 鈥� one of which was a one-year job 鈥� and several others have joined smaller ensembles.
Randolph thinks more can be done much earlier in education to get young students of color interested in classical music.
鈥淢any Black people are not introduced to it at a young age,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o they associate it later in life as this bougie white music, but it鈥檚 not.鈥�
If young students of color are given the resources to learn the art form, Randolph says, they won鈥檛 be any less talented than their white colleagues later on.
鈥淎 lot of people are looking at the fruit of what鈥檚 going on and are trying to change that,鈥� he explains. 鈥淏ut all of this starts from the root.鈥�
Retention and access are part of the solution
Orchestras have long tried to change the perception of classical music through free concerts and education programs, with limited success.
In 1992, the late , a bassist in the Dallas Symphony and the only African American in the orchestra for years, co-founded the program to encourage Black and Latino musicians. Aiming to increase the racial diversity of American orchestras, the program provides free lessons and instruments for students ages 8 to 18.
Alumni have careers in music, but just two have joined professional orchestras.
Sphinx artistic director Dworkin believes that focusing on gaps in education 鈥� particularly at the elementary school level 鈥� makes the problem too big to fix. For its , Sphinx receives at least 300 to 400 applications from Black and Latino string players ages 11 to 17, but can accept only about a third, Dworkin says.
鈥淭here really isn鈥檛 any kind of statistically substantiated lack of participation or talent among Black and brown young people,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the problem in front of us. The problem is how we prepare, retain and support these musicians.鈥�
Retaining these musicians may come down to funding education initiatives, lessons and other expenses.
As a young cellist in Washington, D.C., Randolph says, he played alongside many Black and Latino musicians who were probably more talented than he was. But when it came time to get a new instrument, which can cost thousands of dollars, many parents told their kids to focus on sports instead.
鈥淭he financial barrier to entry is not high at the beginning,鈥� Randolph says, 鈥渂ut when you start to improve, it鈥檚 not cheap.鈥�
To address issues of access, the Detroit Symphony recently launched , a collaborative venture aiming to provide music education and instruments to interested students in the city between kindergarten and 12th grade.
The project is in its first phase. Eventually, organizers would like for it to supply high-quality instruments to students auditioning for conservatories and universities.
Education programs can be part of the solution. As the executives and musicians have shown, there鈥檚 no one way to fix the decadeslong problem. It will take tackling the issue from all angles to lead to deeper and more lasting change.
Did you know that what you just read was a solutions journalism story? It didn鈥檛 just examine a problem; it scrutinized a response. By presenting evidence of who is doing better, we remove any excuse that the problem is intractable. This story, supported by a grant from the , is part of a new partnership with 四虎影院 called Arts Access. If you value our solutions-based reporting, consider supporting this kind of journalism by .
Resources and programs
- Chicago Sinfonietta鈥檚 .
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 .
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 .
- Dallas Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 and .
- Detroit Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 and .
- League of American Orchestras鈥� .
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