Master students from the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the Dutch National Opera Academy have joined forces with a program of exclusively dark composers.
The way our history books and our programs in concert halls were, until very recently, structured, it's not hard to see why. An artform and industry born and most prosperous in Europe in the centuries past, funded by the church and the wealthy and influential, classical music has been an institution famously celebrating the genius of a white, male, European composer.
Not to take away from the brilliance and beauty of works of those whose names most frequently pop up in our mind when we think of 'a composer', but developing the talent for classical music (in the Western European tradition) has always been to an extent a matter of opportunity and privilege. "Making it" as a composer meant having access to the right people, education and finances.
That doesn't mean there weren't great works written by great artists outside of the 'cookie cutter': people of colour, women, people belonging to any imaginable minority. While they might have gone largely unnoticed or underappreciated, they still produced wonderful music, be it inspired by or despite their experiences, circumstances, background and heritage. Musical gems we have the great privilege of (and responsibility for) discovering and presenting.
Luckily, times have changed. As students at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, we are aware of the improvements that still need to be made to our classical music community, in our education and our curatorial and performing practice. We are happy to present several hidden gems, chamber music works from the past, all by composers of African descent, from 18th century until today: William Grant Still, Florence Price, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Samuel Coleridge Taylor and more.