“Rays of hope amid the despair in 2020” Chicago Tribune | December 2020

“For music lovers, this was a year of monumental losses and occasional triumphs, vast silences and sorely needed bursts of sound.

Though there’s no way to claw back the music and musicians stolen from us by the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no denying the resilience Chicago’s jazz and classical musicians showed in the face of disaster. Whole seasons were canceled, clubs and concert halls stood empty, audiences disappeared. Yet Chicago’s musicians found new ways to reach listeners in a venue where few had ventured before: cyberspace.

The Chicago Sinfonietta offered a world premiere; Lyric Opera music director designate Enrique Mazzola provided a tutorial on Verdi’s “Attila”; and the CSO, Lyric Opera and Ravinia, Grant Park and Hyde Park Jazz Festivals all did what they do best – online.

As always, the Sinfonietta stood at the forefront locally and nationally in bringing diversity, equity and inclusion into the Eurocentric world of classical music. More than 35 percent of the orchestra is staffed by musicians of color, and over 45 percent of those are women, according to the Sinfonietta. Its audience is on average 46 percent people of color (specifically 37 percent African American, 5 percent Latino and 4 percent Asian). Equally striking: 58 percent of the board, 73 percent of the associate board and 36 percent of the staff are people of color.

No major orchestra in America comes close to this kind of representation, and when we come out of the pandemic, these institutions need to find ways to better reflect the communities in which they’re based. It’s an age-old problem for classical music, but one that no longer can be ignored.”

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By Howard Reich
Chicago Tribune | Dec 08, 2020