A Call for Social Justice

Efforts to address pervasive systems of racism that directly affect, disenfranchise, and harm Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) have taken on new urgency of late. At the Rhode Island Philharmonic, we believe that every nonprofit seeking to serve the public is morally obligated to identify and dismantle racist practices within its own organization and field. We stand with movements like Black Lives Matter, and others that strive for a more just and equitable society.

The RI Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School is committed to helping eradicate racism and ethnic oppression. We do so by examining and improving our own practices in the concert hall, in our school, in our offices and in the community. We do so by identifying and adopting antiracist strategies recommended by leading classical musicians of color. We do so by working with others to combat insularity and discrimination in classical music, music education, and our community, so that music's power to inspire, transform, educate and unify can benefit all and further positive change.

To advance our efforts:

• We have increased the number of works we program each season by BIPOC composers and have set minimum targets for our subscription series, as recommended by Sphinx Organization founded Aaron Dworkin.
• We regularly review our audition process to ensure that it reflects best practices for building a diverse orchestra of the highest quality.
• We have created a minority fellows program in the Orchestra to increase diversity on our stage and beyond.
• We are working to address systemic opportunity gaps in our society that affect BIPOC children and families by expanding access to programs like Victoria's Dream Project and Link Up.
• We have made our Music School programs and curricula more representative and inclusive.
• We are intensifying efforts to diversity our board, staff and faculty.
• We have undergone organization-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training, and have adopted strategies based on what we learned.
• We have set meaningful targets for the work above and hold ourselves accountable for providing all children and families with access to the high-level, meaningful arts education experiences that they desire and deserve.

Through these actions and others, we are changing our field from the inside out, providing pathways for more BIPOC musicians, educators and arts leaders to pursue careers in classical music and music education. We will continue to do this work in collaboration with the communities we are seeking to serve in the pursuit of equity and justice.

By listening to, celebrating and reflecting the many voices that make up our community and nation, we can accomplish lasting change together.