Commitment to Anti-Racism

July 28 2020

Cantori NY has not previously made a public statement about our transformative moment in American society and the world.

Individually, Cantori NY members and leaders have taken action in many forms. We have sought both to learn and to teach, petitioned, and come into our city’s streets vigorously and urgently to voice dissent.

As a musical organization, we have felt this is a time to listen, reflect and plan rather than to speak out hastily. Our interval of silence should not be misconstrued as indifference.

We are enraged and heartbroken by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others.

We say this, today and always:

Black Lives Matter.

We stand in solidarity with the protestors.

All of us must recognize that systemic racism is a reality and move forcefully to uproot it.  Creating a world of justice and care, rather than fear and deprivation, requires our individual and collective action. Inequity and brutality in law enforcement must end.

While Cantori NY has long embraced and implemented principles of diversity in our programming and operations, we acknowledge that our field of classical music remains unsustainably homogeneous.  

Cantori NY is committed to anti-racism. We have already taken concrete steps to further diversify both our programming and our partnerships and to expand our ongoing engagement with students and the incarcerated. We will provide regular updates on these and other initiatives in future newsletters.

Our Board of Directors will meet in early September to identify and carry out additional steps toward anti-racism. We are eager to read your suggestions. Please write us at info@cantorinewyork.com.  

It is in the DNA and ethos of Cantori NY that education precedes change, that knowledge is power, and that music is always part of the solution.

Here are some resources that have illuminated, guided and inspired us as we have explored our own unconscious biases and conditioned racism, and sought out opportunities for action:

Lift Every Voice: A Conversation Hosted by J’Nai Bridges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5APSkV5qyK4

Still We Rise: A Conversation Hosted by Amanda Lynn Bottoms

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=643599946191670&ref=watch_permalink

Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/06/09/schomburg-center-black-liberation-reading-list

Justice for George

https://www.instagram.com/justiceforgeorgenyc/?hl=en

Lift Every Voice and Sing. Presented by Nicole Heaston in the Purple Robe Song Series Part II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jufE7HuY5nI