“The first participants in the IRIS Orchestra’s IRIS Artist Fellows program are ready to take their first bows to the Memphis public this week,” writes Mark Richens in Wednesday’s (9/28) Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.). “The program is intended to increase participation in the classical field by African-American and Hispanic musicians. The three fellows, all recent college graduates, earn a stipend by rehearsing and performing with IRIS—a professional orchestra that draws musicians from all over the country—teaching in local schools, and performing as a chamber trio called C3Strings…. ‘We wanted to address the inequity that can be seen in underrepresentation of African-Americans and Latinos in classical music,’ said [IRIS Community Initiatives Coordinator Rebecca] Arendt, citing a 2015 study by the League of American Orchestras that found only 4 percent of their musicians are black or Hispanic. Arendt said the fellowship also addresses a need for … ‘hands-on training in the field.’ … The three fellows [violinist Mariama Alcantara, cellist Ajibola Rivers, and violist Ashley Vines] will join their new colleagues in the IRIS Orchestra for concerts Oct. 8 and 9…. Said Rivers: ‘I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’ll be playing alongside my mentors in a professional orchestra.’ ”
Posted September 30, 2016
Pictured: IRIS Artist Fellows (from left) Ashley Vines, Ajibola Rivers, and Mariama Alcantara
