“The Seattle Symphony is known for its masterful performances and musical programs,” writes Nina Huang in last Thursday’s (3/16) Northwest Asian Weekly. “The organization also … is committed to diversity and inclusion. … Their work involves all segments of the organization, and there are staff leaders who work on diversity and inclusion … from staff training and hiring practices to programming and making their community work more available to wider audiences.” Rosalie Contreras, the orchestra’s vice president of communications, says, “ ‘We believe that having a variety of perspectives makes us a more vibrant, relevant, and resilient organization. In defining what a diverse organization means for us, we have looked at our culture and power structure along with how we compare to the community we serve … We have committed to bringing in more voices on our stage, in our programming choices, among our staff and on our board.’ … they’ve done baseline studies of their staff, orchestra, and board, and they have initiatives underway to bring them closer to our county demographics. They’ve held workshops with experts on racial equity … and they’ve also held ‘in-reach’ opportunities for experiential learning where the board, staff, and musicians strengthen their understanding of the people they’re serving.”
Posted March 23, 2017
In photo: Soloist Kinan Azmeh with the Seattle Symphony and Music Director Ludovic Morlot at the orchestra’s February 8 “Music Beyond Borders: Voices from the Seven” concert, which featured music and artists from some of the seven countries included in President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Photo: Seattle Symphony
