Celebrating and learning about Black classical music in February and beyond

Last year we shared on our social media local organizations (Urban Strings Columbus, Columbus Cultural Orchestra, and The King Arts Complex), and featured Black composers, musicians, and a luthier to celebrate Black History Month. 

This year, we want to share resources for educators, students, musicians, and anyone interested in learning and engaging more with Black classical music, musicians, and composers. 


Music by Black Composers (https://www.musicbyblackcomposers.org/)
Music by Black Composers was founded by violinist Rachel Barton Pine. Their mission is: 

• To inspire Black students to begin and continue instrumental training by showing them that they are an integral part of classical music's past as well as its future.
• To make the music of Black composers available to all people regardless of background or ethnicity.
• To help bring greater diversity to the ranks of performers, composers, and audiences, and help change the face of classical music and its canon. 

MBC is currently on their second phase of their projects, which you can learn more about here: https://www.musicbyblackcomposers.org/about-us/mbc-projects-timeline/​.

For violinists, they created three volumes of music books for beginners to advanced players. Each volume includes information about the composers and Black classical music. In addition to their materials for students and teachers, they also have directories for Living Composers and Historic Composers. MBC also has a list of children's books and reference books for adults. 


African Diaspora Music Project (https://africandiasporamusicproject.org/)
"The African Diaspora Music Project was founded as a research tool to help singers find art songs for performance and The George Shirley Vocal Competition. It was released in its vocal format with nearly 4,000 titles in 2019. In 2021, we released a new version that added more than 1,000 orchestral scores in a format usable by conductors and players. Our latest iteration that includes recordings, perusal scores, instrumental and chamber music, and curated lists by trusted orchestral conductors was released in 2022."


Institute for Composer Diversity (https://www.composerdiversity.com/)
"The Institute for Composer Diversity works to encourage the discovery, study, and performance of music written by composers from historically excluded groups."
The ICD has databases that encourage performers, teachers, and groups to discover works by marginalized composers.
The ICD also produces an annual Orchestra Repertoire Report with the League of American Orchestras. Each year they analyze and explore how diverse the programs for orchestras in the United States are, as well as what best practices orchestras can take to change.


Classically Black Podcast (https://www.classicallyblackpodcast.com/) 
"Classically Black Podcast shows listeners the world of classical music through the eyes of Dalanie and Katie: two Black classical musicians on the rise looking to share their perspective with a new and interesting twist. Classically Black Podcast centers Black voices and challenges ideas of what the field of classical music looks like. Additionally, by including humor and references to popular culture, the hosts aim to make classical music more approachable to listeners who are not classically trained. At its core, Classically Black Podcast was created with the purpose of showing Black musicians that even in an industry that so clearly lacks diversity, they are visible and their voices matter."
Classically Black Podcast has new episodes every Monday available wherever you get your podcasts.


Melanated Moments in Classical Music (https://classicalmusicindy.org/podcasts/melanated-moments/​)
"Melanated Moments in Classical Music, the award-winning podcast from Classical Music Indy, shines a spotlight on musical works composed by, for, and about Black people. Melanated Moments is hosted by international opera soprano, Angela Brown and music sociologist Joshua Thompson. Angela and Joshua's chemistry is electric, balancing fun, lively commentary with no-nonsense straight talk. Telling history like it is, Angela and Joshua share a deep commitment to being a voice for Black artists as Black artists."
This podcast was named Best Music Podcast by the 2020 Black Podcasting Award.  

If there are any resources you know about and love, feel free to share it with us in the comments! Happy Black History Month!