Hello and I'm

and welcome to Sticky Notes to Classical Music Podcast. My name is Joshua Wilerstein. I'm a conductor and I'm the

artistic director of the Lozan Chamber Orchestra in Lausanne Switzerland.

This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just

getting ready to dive into this amazing world of

incredible music. Before we get started I want to thank all of my Patreon sponsors

for making season six possible. If you'd like to support the show please head over to

Patreon.com slash Sticky Notes Podcast.

And if you are a fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating your review on Apple Podcasts.

Every rating your review helps more people find the show and it is greatly appreciated.

Over the past two weeks, the United States has awakened the gaping wound of racial prejudice in a way that hasn't been seen in decades. This wound wasn't opened

voluntarily but by the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests

that have taken place in all 50 states. These protests have already created change from the arrests of

violent police officers to reassign funding away from the militarization of

police and a renewed focus on real policies to stem the tide of police brutality.

In the arts world, the intensity of the protests and the national mood has once again laid

bare our shameful neglect of minority composers. The rationalizations are in one sense true. Every

time an orchestra programs music by a composer who is less known, whether living or not, whether

a person of color or not, ticket sales noticeably drop.

Audiences like hearing what they know, and decades of trying to change that have only seen

with marginal success.

But as much as I rail against this type of programming, in the past week I've looked back at the archives of the show, and I have to admit to being guilty of many of the same things.

...