For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Christian Hillis. I’m 23 and a classically trained flutist originally from Texas currently living in California. Like many other musicians, I began learning music at a young age. I started my classical training at the age of 14, fell in love with the tradition and set on a journey to become a successful flutist and performer. My young mind was full of hopes and dreams. I wanted to perform around the world, play with some of my favorite orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic. Collaborate with my favorite musicians and idles like Denis Bouriakov or Emmanuel Pahud. As a young Black female I was aware that there weren’t many people who looked like me in the field, but at the time I was determined not to let that stop me. Certainly, I had thought, that my race wouldn’t be that much of a barrier on my journey to success. “Black people just don’t listen to classical music as much” I very naively thought. I hadn’t stopped to question why we as a people were less exposed to the genre in the first place. Eventually, like many other young Black musicians, I got a wake up call and began to see that this narrative wasn’t as plain and simple as I had thought.
How many times over the years, have Black children had to come to the realization that the institutions they love and want to be apart of, are also the thing that’s actively keeping them out? I’m going to take the time while writing this blog to be brutally honest. For far too long classical music has upheld the very foundation that it was built on: white supremacy. With the revolution that’s currently happening in our country and the fight for Black lives, the need for real change and not just performative actions, needs to happen now. We need to call out and question every single classical institution that has claimed that diversity is what they strive for, but have yet to put action behind their words.
When I moved to California in 2019 I decided to spend a few months volunteering as an usher at the San Francisco Symphony. During my first night of volunteering, noticing the predominately white staff and orchestra was of no surprise. Actually, predominately might be too lenient of a word. The two other people of color on their ushering staff that greeted me when I first arrived, eventually I never saw again. As far as I was aware, I was the only black person there. Eventually my time there became unnerving. The growing feeling of being out of place or like I didn’t belong was overwhelming. Some people were welcoming. Others didn’t quite know how to not stare. Double-takes to look at me as I walked onto the elevator. One woman volunteering stared at me half the night before finally walking over to introduce herself. I even went to the head director of the ushering staff at one point to express my interest in being hired as an usher. To me it was a good way to keep myself surrounded by music in a city that was unfamiliar to me. However, I felt that his response was dismissive. I was told that they weren’t looking to hire anyone else until much later in the year. Of course, I found that new people were hired some time later. All white. After a couple of weeks of volunteering I truly wondered whether it was good for me to continue being there. Me as well as many others have said before, it’s hard to imagine yourself doing something when you don’t see people who look like you.
Eventually SFS released their upcoming season and to my surprise, their concert programs were full of black performers, conductors, and some of my favorites like the Chineke! Orchestra and Stewart Goodyear. To others it might have seemed as though the symphony was finally listening after getting so much backlash for it’s lack of diversity. Maybe they were finally getting the picture. I, however, knew better. There tends to be a pattern. An orchestra receives many complaints about lack of diversity. It eventually gets to the point that these cries can no longer be ignored so they put water to the flame. They plan out their next season with highly regarded black conductors and soloist. After this season has past they can finally say that they made the change. They were the good guys and began being “inclusive”. It let’s them off the hook so they can go back exactly to how things were. If you don’t believe me, look at the San Francisco Symphony’s 2020-2021 concert season. My main problem with orchestras is that it doesn’t matter if you invite the black soloist, or if you do the news story on diversity or make the black lives matter post. If the foundation on the inside doesn’t match what you’re putting on the outside, that is performative action and it will fail you every single time. It doesn’t matter how nice you make the outside appear with your temporary fixes and bandaids that are famous black musicians. If you’re not hiring black musicians in your orchestra, hiring black organizers, artistic directors and financiers, your structure will collapse and leave you exposed. It’s currently happening. The US is becoming more diverse everyday and people pay money to see people that look like them. If you have a diverse city and you walk into a concert hall to only see white faces, playing music by dead white composers, they wont stay for long. The orchestra will eventually loose money, and the mission to keep your audience will become harder until you end up in a situation where the orchestra is barely staying afloat.
People say that classical music is dying, but what’s really dying are the racist foundations it was built on in a world that’s choosing to fight back.
Why hasn’t the metropolitan Opera ever played a piece by a Black composer? That time is over. Why do music festivals continue to put financial barriers up that keep marginalized communities from being able to afford those opportunities? Why is there a lack of funding in the arts especially in marginalized communities? This leads to Black children being unable to afford their own musical instruments and lesson teachers. These are the reasons why Black people are less exposed to classical music to begin with. Not because we’re less than, but because systemic racism keeps us away from the elite. Start implementing blind auditions, that way biases and racism don’t determine someone’s success.
This is why a Black Lives Matter post with a vague caption, or seemingly diverse concert season doesn’t impress me one bit. These institutions need to do better. White people need to do better. The time is up for classical music and it’s upholding of white supremacy. Make the change starting now.