Students in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Young Strings program, 2019.
“Protester groups across the country have made ongoing national headlines about race relations throughout the U.S.,” writes Leeanne R. Hay in Friday’s (11/15) Dallas Morning News. “Yet one solution quietly born nearly 30 years ago is thriving in downtown Dallas…. In 1991, Dwight Shambley, a longtime bassist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and colleague Marion Davies, former principal cellist of the DSO, deconstructed what it really took to get to the concert hall just to get to an audition…. Talent and hard work were givens [but] they found that financial support was the engine driving success…. In 1992, Shambley and Davies launched the Young Strings program with eight Black and Latino children who showed extraordinary talent when assessed for music aptitude…. Today the nonprofit runs on modest funding from many sources…. Even the pandemic cannot stop the Young Strings program, which continues with Zoom lessons and socially distant events…. Young Strings graduates have a 98% acceptance rate for college admissions…. Today, dedicated Young Strings staffers and several DSO musicians are keeping Shambley’s excellence and initiatives alive [Shambley passed away in January 2020]…. These hidden measures will continue to reverberate for years to come.”
