Our anti-racism and diversity work often focuses on the future, without looking as closely at where things stand in the present. But to dismantle a machine, you have to know how it works. Weston Sprott — one of the only African-American members of the MET and Dean of the Preparatory Division of Juilliard and Pre-College Faculty — will give students, faculty, and staff an inside look at how music institutions operate. His professional development sessions will have an eye towards how recognizing and dismantling institutional racism can help us build a more diverse canon and a safer space for learning and performance.
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Weston Sprott Residency
Sunday • September 19, 2021
One event on Monday • September 20, 2021 at 12:00 am
One event on Tuesday • September 21, 2021 at 12:00 am
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Weston Sprott is Dean of the Preparatory Division at the Juilliard School and a trombonist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. His work includes performance, education, administration, and thought leadership. He is an active speaker, writer, and consultant for diversity and inclusion initiatives in classical music, regularly presenting at conferences and contributing to musical publications.
Weston enjoys an exciting career that includes orchestral, chamber, and solo performances. He is a trombonist in New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, of which he has been a member since 2005. He has performed with several of the world’s leading orchestras and music festivals and has been a featured soloist throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. He has been recognized as “an excellent trombonist” with a “sense of style and phrasing [that] takes a backseat to no one”.
Weston is Dean of the Preparatory Division at The Juilliard School, leading the Juilliard Pre-College and Music Advancement Program. A dedicated and tireless teacher, Sprott holds faculty positions at Juilliard Pre-College and Bard College. He regularly serves on the faculties of numerous summer programs and appears frequently as a guest teacher at conservatories, universities, and other leading programs such as the New World Symphony and The Orchestra Now.
Weston is an active speaker, writer, and consultant for diversity and inclusion efforts in classical music. He is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program’s Aspire Award. He is the Board Chair of the Friends of SICMF, a member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble’s Artistic Advisory Board, and a member of the Avery Fisher Artist Program’s Recommendation Board.