“Patricia Silva Weitzel is the only African-American member of the 80-plus Quad City Symphony Orchestra” in Davenport, Iowa, writes Jonathan Turner in Tuesday’s (2/4) Quad-City Times. “But on Sunday night, Jan. 26 at the Grammy Awards, she performed with an all women-of-color ensemble. The talented double bassist—a 36-year-old native of Brazil who teaches … played in a special 23-woman orchestra, backing Grammy winner Lizzo in two songs to open the 62nd-annual ceremony.… ‘It was great,’ Weitzel, a QCSO member since 2013, said. ‘I don’t get to see that many women of color at the top of their game…. We’re from all over the country, but we all have the same experience navigating classical music. I felt very inspired by it.’… Of the Q-C Symphony (which includes several Asian-Americans), she noted: ‘I never felt uncomfortable with this group—they’re very welcoming.’ Lizzo … was nominated for eight Grammys and won three. The freelance orchestra, made up of players nationwide, rehearsed with her in L.A. … and had to perform the music from memory.…Weitzel thanked Lizzo on Facebook for ‘bringing a full cast of female musicians of color on stage to show the world that representation matters.’ ”
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