Enough.
We stand with those who are protesting worldwide against injustice, seeking an end to police violence against people of color and the eradication of systemic racism.
The Center for Musical Arts was founded on the ideal of access to music for ALL people. As a community music school built on the values of Excellence, Access, Community and Heart, it is our responsibility to now restate and build on our commitment to providing access for all, to make meaningful music and to promote social justice through our programming. Music has always been a part of great social change; clearly we are riding the wave of a marked societal sea change right now. As an organization, we feel relieved and excited to be part of that wave.
The Center for Musical Arts stands in solidarity with our community to end systemic racism. We will listen, learn, and work toward this goal by highlighting our student diversity, increasing our reach into new communities, expanding programming to include new and creative approaches to contributing toward the elimination of injustice and to moving toward equity and social justice.
Actions speak louder than words. Not only do we acknowledge that we can do more, we will do more to combat systemic racism and work to create true equity and inclusion. This will be a process that takes the form of an ongoing conversation and evolution of our organizational behaviors to better serve everyone in our community.
We are accountable to you, our community, and will continue to share our actions with you by updating this post.
Organizational Actions
On #BlackOutTuesday, a day recognized as a pause by some in the music industry, we dedicated the day to conversations around equity and inclusion. As a result of these and ongoing conversations, we are committing to the following actions:
- Honor and call attention to the #BlackLivesMatter movement by commissioning a black composer for a work to premiere with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, scheduled for summer 2021.
- Deepen our connection with our Festival Fellows, selected in partnership with the Sphinx Organization, by listening and creating a platform through which they and other musicians of color may share their direct experiences with our audience and students. Specifically, we are developing a series of videos featuring 2020 Festival Fellows, the Ivalas Quartet.
- Create diversity on our board of directors.
- Diversify Center for Musical Arts faculty to include more people of color.
- Hire more composers and musicians of color to perform in and with the
- Colorado Music Festival Orchestra.
- Create a larger pool of arts administrators in our field who are black and from other underrepresented groups with a new internship program to be launched in 2021.
- Highlight the diversity of musical, cultural offerings at the Center for Musical Arts, including our partnership with Kutandara Center, our Outreach Program to Title I schools, Invisible Audience virtual concerts, lessons on non-western instruments and other special programs.