Marcus Gee
Thomas Wilkins & Gustavo Dudamel
John Malveaux of
www.MusicUNTOLD.com
writes:
Based on a past League of American Orchestras survey, nearly 90% of orchestra players are White, 3% percent are African-American or Latino, and most of the remaining 7% are Asian. On July 22, 2017, I attended the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association closing event of the NATIONAL TAKE A STAND FESTIVAL at Disney Concert featuring the NATIONAL TAKE A STAND FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA.
The concert and El Sistema concept represent the most powerful vehicle for diversity and inclusion in American Orchestras that I have ever witnessed to date.. Please see NATIONAL TAKE A STAND FESTIVAL http://www.laphil.com/educatio
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra principal Conductor Thomas Wilkins opened the concert with
In 2013, i missed the screening of a Samuel Coleridge-Taylor documentary followed by a discussion with the producer Charlie Kaufman. However, I was successful in contacting Mr. Kaufman and he agreed to meet with me on his way to the airport. Mr. Kaufman had invested all his assets in the documentary without a distribution deal. He graciously shared a copy of the documentary with me. Please see one of several trailers to his documentary SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR and His Music in America, 1900-1912 on Youtube. I selected the following trailer because the first person speaking is Francis Walker, sister of the Pulitzer Prize composer George Walker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU3uOodTEh8. The entire documentary is also on Youtube.
As the high school musicians between the ages of 12-18 walked on staged, I starting counting the number of African Americans players. I was momentarily distracted and they were coming so frequently, I lost count and could not recover to get an accurate count. Sitting in the front row, I gave close attention to the skillful techniques and confidence by the principal cellist Marcus Gee. See pic 1 Marcus Gee.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s first date with his future wife Coretta was a concert of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. After witnessing their lives and the NATIONAL TAKE A STAND ORCHESTRA, I know for sure YES WE CAN. see pic 2 Maestros Wilkins and Dudamel
