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Du Bois Fall Concert | The Du Bois Orchestra

Saturday • October 9, 2021   |   8:00 pm

Segregation and discrimination didn’t just shape schools and public spaces — they also defined the musical canon for most of history. In a space created by — and largely for — White men, women composers and composers of color have had to fight for their place. Visionary composers like Scott Joplin, whose Treemonesha Overture will open the Du Bois Orchestra’s program, were largely ignored by western ears because of their race or identity. This program will put ragtime and jazz alongside the Dvorak’s 8th Symphony in an exploration of the space between genres and the fight to expand the musical canon for people of all identities.

Dominique Hoskin, Artistic Director

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The Du Bois Orchestra, founded by Harvard students in 2015 to make music a means of overcoming social exclusion, has exploded onto the local musical scene. It performs to large, diverse audiences, and elevates underrepresented composers by performing their works alongside works from the traditional classical canon.

The orchestra recently performed a concert series in honor of the 150th birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois, a civil rights leader and the first African American to graduate with a PhD from Harvard. At one performance during the series, the City of Cambridge issued a proclamation honoring Du Bois’s legacy, and the Du Bois Society at Harvard put on an exhibit honoring his life. The orchestra’s upcoming concerts will continue to feature composers from underrepresented backgrounds.

The Du Bois Orchestra includes musicians from Harvard University, Longy School of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, and members of the local musical community. Concerts are FREE, but audience members do have the option to donate online, or in-person.

“What has this Beauty to do with the world? What has Beauty to do with Truth and Goodness—with the facts of the world and the right actions of men? ‘Nothing’, the artists rush to answer. They may be right. I am but an humble disciple of art and cannot presume to say. I am one who tells the truth and exposes evil and seeks with Beauty and for Beauty to set the world right. That somehow, somewhere eternal and perfect Beauty sits above Truth and Right I can conceive, but here and now and in the world in which I work they are for me unseparated and inseparable.”
–W.E.B Du Bois

The Du Bois Orchestra

Program
Tickets

Details

Date:
Saturday • October 9, 2021
Time:
8:00 pm
Event Categories:
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Venue

Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall
Longy School of Music, 27 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 United States
Thanks to our partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and their “Card to Culture” program, Longy School of Music of Bard College can offer free tickets to many of our diverse and innovative performance offerings. See the full list of participating “Card to Culture” organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.