In light of the recent outbreak of violence sparked by the senseless, racially motivated persecution and death of George Floyd in the US and Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto, ON QSCM cannot remain silent on the matter of racial bias in classical music culture.
Classical music organizations like QSCM need to pay attention to the many ways in which black lives and those of persons of colour matter beyond mere physical survival.
There is undeniably an inherent bias in classical music culture that makes it very difficult for non-white musicians to participate and compete for jobs in the classical music world.QSCM is committed to fairness in all our operations, including programming. The current crisis is a wake up call to us all to start paying closer attention to how we can not just say, but address these issues in our operations and programming. The attached links are informative, offering avenues towards better understanding the issues as we aim for meaningful dialogue that launches effective, meaningful action. I encourage us all to spend some time reading, listening, watching learning, and then to open our hearts to the needs of these people in our world, and start using our minds to see that their value as musicians, artists and members of our human family is not ignored, their right to equal opportunity sustained, and their potential for the betterment of us all fostered and nurtured. https://medium.com/…/a-new-normal-for-north-american-orches…
https://www.docplay.com/…/10-documentaries-to-watch-about…/… To learn more about the contribution of Florence Price to Classical Music, go here: https://naxosusa.com/florence-beatrice-price-a-closer-look-with-musicologist-douglas-shadle/