“It’s a sign of the times that they’re lining up at the Broad Street Ministry—a queue not of the homeless and others in need. Rather, it’s arts groups asking to get in,” writes Peter Dobrin in Saturday’s (7/8) Philadelphia Inquirer. “Artists have traditionally done good work with underserved audiences, but the scale of activity has grown enormously. Many arts groups have moved these kinds of programs from the periphery to their core mission…. It gets right to the question of what it means to experience art and who gets access to it.… Philadelphia Orchestra composer-in-residence Hannibal Lokumbe [recently] brought his exuberant music-with-a-conscience message to prisons, schools, and churches. Curtis Institute of Music composer Emily Cooley is helping inmates at Graterford Prison to write music…. Talking to the graduating class at Curtis in May, Los Angeles Philharmonic CEO Deborah Borda cited conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who calls music ‘a fundamental human right,’ like clean water, air, and education. It’s heartening to see so many arts groups putting that idea into action.”
Posted July 11, 2017
Pictured: Philadelphia Orchestra composer-in-residence Hannibal Lokumbe performing the world premiere of his “Crucifixion Resurrection: Nine Souls a-Traveling” in June at the Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
