EOS

The EOS Project is a direct response to questions about social justice as it pertains to the world of classical music, and institutions such as the BMC.  This ongoing concert series is envisioned as a collaborative effort of BMC Music School faculty and other local musicians to actively seek out and intentionally perform music by composers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as well as composers who identify as anything other than cis male.   

 As our country reckons with its history of oppression, we, as individuals, are working to understand our own implicit biases. In the music world, this bias can be seen in our concert halls, both on stage, and in the music that we program.  Composers of color, as well as composers who aren’t cis male, have historically been excluded from our musical canon. We’re still going to play our Bach, our Haydn, and our Mozart. But we will also play our Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, our Florence Price, our George Walker. This list goes on, from composers who have intentionally been excluded historically, to living, emerging composers today.

EOS is not about inclusivity. Inclusivity shouldn’t be a project, and music isn’t a space we can claim. Rather, EOS is about education. By learning, performing, and listening to music from outside the parameters of systemic oppression, we are educating ourselves. We are opening ourselves to the reality of whose music exists, and whose voices should be heard. By exploring beyond what we consider “familiar,” we strengthen ourselves and our community. 

The Inaugural concert on November 8 includes the String Quartet in C minor, Op. 1, No. 4 by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne, Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price, Molto Adagio (Lyric for Strings), from String Quartet No. 1 by George Walker, String Quartet No. 5, Rosa Parks by DBR (Daniel Bernard Roumain) and Strum by Jessie Montgomery. Performers include Kathy Andrew, Heather Sommerlad, Emily Packard, Moby Pearson, and Zon Eastes.