“Last summer, the world of classical music experienced a racial reckoning,” writes Jasmine Liu in Wednesday’s (3/24) Oaklandside (Oakland, CA). “Orchestras across the country rushed to acknowledge that they had more work to do when it came to challenging racism and striving for inclusion within their own ranks, and their audiences.… ‘There is an urgent need for White people and predominantly White organizations to do the work of uprooting this racism,’ the League of American Orchestras said in a June 2020 statement…. Oakland Symphony conductor Michael Morgan responded to the moment.… ‘The Oakland Symphony has always supported the social justice movement. And we continue to in these times,’ he said.… For over three decades, Oakland Symphony’s leaders have worked to diversify classical music by broadening its audience and broaching the questions that matter to communities historically excluded from prestigious arts institutions…. Oakland Symphony executive director Mieko Hatano said … other arts organizations have expressed [interest] in what Oakland is doing…. [Oakland Symphony] leaders say they’ll continue to create programming that speaks to pressing issues of social justice while embodying the diversity of the city they are a part of.”
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