Our esteemed leader works for diversity not just in Scouting, but in musical performance:
J. Andrés Ballesteros, a Boston-area composer on the faculty of the Boston Arts Academy, who organized the letter, said he was “very pleased” with how the conversation went. “The BSO has been very receptive so far,” he said after the meeting.
In their letter, Ballesteros and his fellow signatories ask the BSO to make significant programming changes. Among their recommendations: The BSO should add at least five additional works by women or minorities to the 2017-18 season, and at least 20 percent of the 2018-19 season should comprise works by women or people of color.
The group also included a sizable list of female and minority composers for the BSO to consider going forward, and some canonical works the symphony might play a little less often. “As exciting as it might be to hear the BSO perform Beethoven’s Fifth, it would mark the 55th performance since 2000 and the 21st just this decade,” they wrote. “Would it not be more exciting to open up new, rarely-explored venues?”