wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

According to industry figures, black and Latino musicians currently make up just 3 percent of American orchestra members. It's an enormous challenge, and one organization that is trying to redress the problem is the Sphinx Competition, which is held every year in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. Aaron Dworkin founded the Sphinx Competition for black and Latino string players in 1996 to redress the minuscule numbers of minorities in classical music and he joins us today. We're also joined by New York Times cultural reporter Robin Pogrebin, who recently detailed how the boards of New York City's major cultural organizations are overwhelmingly white, a fact that can influence artistic as well as financial decisions. Rounding out the show, Molly Sheridan, associate editor of NewMusicBox.org and a columnist for New York Press joins us to preview an upcoming concert marking the one-year anniversary of the ISSUE Project room.
Additional Resources:
» Sphinx Competition Web site
» Many Arts Groups Lag Behind in Black Trustees and Backing
   by Robin Pogrebin
» ISSUE Project room concert information