At a time when many groups are scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, one group is pushing forward. The Charlotte Strings Collective is a group of local musicians highlighting Black composers and their work.
Over a dozen musicians gathered on a stage at UNC Charlotte. Some held and fine-tuned their bass and cello instruments. Others pushed chairs that screeched along the floor. Alice Silva plays the violin. She had a stand and a mini iPad that she controlled through a music foot pedal.
After the musicians were settled and tuned up, they began to play. The group of about 20 musicians includes faculty, alumni and students from Davidson College, UNC Charlotte and Winthrop University. Some are also members of the Charlotte Symphony.
The group got started in August 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. Silva and the other musicians wanted to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.
They performed a piece virtually called “Mother and Child,” written in 1943 by William Grant Still, who was known as the “dean” of African American composers. For Silva and the group, performing Still’s piece was their way of showing solidarity.
“It gave us the opportunity to support the movement with the tools that we had, which is our instruments, and our music, and voices,” Silva said. "We just wanted to be there and say, ‘We are here with you and the movement.'”
Since then, the collective has performed about 30 times in places that include theaters and churches around Charlotte and at conferences in Georgia and New York. The group spotlights unrecognized Black historical composers like Joseph Bologne and Florence Price and composers within their own group, such as Adrian Gordon.
Gordon gave the group an insight into where some of the sound from one of his pieces comes from. "I took the motif that you're going to hear in the violin from my car, when I put it in park, it goes …,” Gordon said.
Gordon started creating his piece, "Echoes of Valor," about two years ago. It focuses on themes of courage and heroism.
Gordon, who joined the collective two years ago, teaches orchestra at Providence Day School. Growing up in Miami, Gordon was introduced to music through his mother, who played the piano.
“She would sit at the piano, and then she would get up and work on dinner. Then come back and play piano. And it just felt so inviting and welcoming. It just felt like home,” Gordon said.
He says joining the group has given him a sense of community, and he hopes the group’s performances introduce audiences to more Black composers and musicians.
“I hope to normalize people hearing and expecting to hear music from people of color, but in this medium," Gordon said. "I think they expect it from hip-hop. I think they expect it from jazz, but not necessarily classical. I think classical music, particularly string music ... is a little behind the ball. So, I’m hoping it becomes normal for people to see.”
Gordon hopes their performance will give audiences a fuller picture of the classical genre and move the genre forward.
“It can’t be just Western, classical traditions forever. Yes, the instruments are based in that tradition, but the music has moved forward,“ Gordon said. "And I think to make the field and the profession sustainable, the younger generations has to see there are people playing the instruments that look like me, and the people writing the music that look like me, as well.”
The Charlotte Strings Collective is expected to play Gordon’s piece on March 27 at Free Range Brewing at 2320 N Davidson St. in NoDa.
