Courtesy of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Diversity efforts by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra have just been recognized and shored up by two grants—one, a continuation of a long-standing partnership, and the other new support for new efforts.
The Bayer Fund renewed funding it has provided since 1992, granting SLSO $160,000 for IN UNISON, the orchestra’s program in support of African and African American music. The program includes the IN UNISON chorus, church partnerships, and mentoring and support for high school and college student musicians.
And new this year, the League of American Orchestras awarded $19,000 from its Catalyst Fund, specifically to fund SLSO’s efforts toward equity, diversity, and inclusion. The grant dovetails nicely with a new focus on diversity efforts for the orchestra, codified in the 2016 strategic plan and continuing through the present.
“I love seeing those two grants together,” says Maureen Byrne, associate vice president of education and community partnerships for SLSO. “It shows a progression that is kind of unique.”
The orchestra’s current work on diversity began right after being written into the 2016 strategic plan, Byrne explains.
“The work that’s being done right now is incredibly intentional,” she says. “It’s coming from within—that’s going to be the single thing that makes a difference, that will allow us to make a framework of operation that will last a lot longer than I will or anyone in the orchestra or staff. It becomes woven into the DNA of the organization.”
First, the orchestra formed a task force including members of the board of trustees. Then in 2018, SLSO hired Rebeccah Bennett and Dr. Kira Banks of Emerging Wisdom, LLC to help facilitate foundational anti-racist work. Under their leadership, the orchestra took a self-inventory of their own successes and challenges and agreed on a common set of definitions to work from.
A planned series of community listening sessions began in September, though the pandemic paused that aspect of the work. Now, the board, the staff, and the musicians are undergoing anti-racism training with Crossroads.
“It’s work, and it doesn’t happen overnight,” says Byrne.
Orchestras across the country have been attempting to address issues of inequity for years, says Byrne. The National Alliance for Audition Support, of which SLSO is a member, provides mentoring, audition prep, and financial support for Black and Latinx musicians. And blind auditioning goes back 50 years, she says.
“The arts tend to lead these conversations,” says Byrne. “We can give voice to people in the arts—different composers who may not have been part of the quote-unquote traditional canon. We have the ability to elevate those voices.”
