A sold-out show that traces Black composers is helping to fill gaps in classical music

The first thing to know about "Black Keys: The Evolution of the Black Classical Arts" is that the concert is sold out. That happened more than a month ago, leaving only the slim hope of a wait list for those who want to see the Saturday performance at Butler University's Schrott Center for the Arts live.

Houses packed that far in advance haven't been the norm for classical music. But then neither have concerts devoted entirely to composers of African descent — at least not those produced by traditional institutions. Part of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra's season, "Black Keys" will combine such works with dance and vocals in a narrative that highlights the experiences and contributions of Black composers and people throughout history.

The sell-out confirms to concert curator Joshua Thompson that community support for the music and Indianapolis-based guest artists speaks for itself.

"Black Keys" will reach an even wider audience June 15, when WFYI will air a recording of Saturday's performance, which Thompson hopes will lead to more opportunities to spread Black composers' artistry and rightful place in the broader repertoire.

"I look at this performance like I do all of my other performances — as an audition. I have no idea what I'm auditioning for, but if I show up and show out, I will find out not too much later after that," said Thompson, a pianist, music sociologist and the chamber orchestra's creative partner in residence.

"I really would like to see this program on stages across the country because that's where the music has belonged in the first place."

Saturday's concert has been years in the making, stemming from an educational deficit Thompson experienced as a student growing up in the classical music ecosystem. As an adult, he works to rectify that in concert halls and classrooms, making more people aware of history that's been left out.

Fixing the deficit in music education

Thompson began playing the piano at age five and the trumpet at age 10. He enjoyed learning works from the classical canon — generally understood as a collection of masterworks written over the past four centuries largely by white, male Western Europeans. But a big question hovered: Where were the Black composers?

For almost 10 years, Thompson has been bringing more awareness to what he refers to as composers of African descent. He's accomplished this by sharing his own research, performing and through projects like "Melanated Moments in Classical Music," his podcast with world-renowned Indianapolis soprano Angela Brown, as well as his partnership with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.

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Thompson began meeting with the ensemble's executive staff in 2019, and when Dana Stone became executive director in 2020, she joined the planning of diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives. The collaboration produced a virtual curriculum for schools that broadened the history of classical music to include creators and cultures that had not been given their due.

"(George) Gershwin was highly influenced by (William) Grant Still, and I think it's kind of sad that we didn't know that," Stone said. "We don't celebrate these composers that really influenced so much of what has really become popularized."

That project opened more doors — including a prestigious $75,000 grant from the League of American Orchestra's Catalyst Fund Incubator program to further its diversity, equity and inclusion plans. As part of that, Thompson became the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra's creative partner in residence and "Black Keys" became a capstone project.

How 'Black Keys' began

The first iteration of "Black Keys" was born during the pandemic as a solo piano and vocal work. With his home as a performing arts venue, Thompson performed small concerts about the origins of Black contributions to classical music. Later, he toured the show to several states.

But his vision was bigger. Thompson wanted to perform it with an orchestra, dancers and a vocalist telling the story to a soundtrack of Black composers' music. With the help of several more national and local grants, that vision will come to life at Saturday's performance.

After the orchestra opens with pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Ulysses Kay and William Grant Still, poet Devon Ginn will narrate an origin-type story that begins in the cosmos with Still's "Out of the Silence." The arc of history continues with includes global expansion, colonization, civil rights and times of joy. The concert spans more than 350 years of music by Black composers, including Nina Simone's "Four Women" and Duke Ellington's “Spring” from "The River."

Also performing as part of this narrative are Kenyettá Dance Co., vocalist PsyWrn Simone and saxophonist Jared Thompson, Joshua's brother.

In addition to introducing more people to Black composers, the program contributes to greater understanding and social connection, Thompson said.

"There are people who are never going to fully understand what it's like to live in this skin day after day," said Thompson, 42, who graduated from North Central High School and DePauw University.

"What music does is it gets words out of the way and you can hear the experience. And that gets you closer to a more empathetic understanding, so when you do see social contradictions pop up, you have a visceral memory thanks to sound and emotion and feeling that hopefully makes people a bit more compassionate and compelled to do what they feel they know how to do to make sure that all people are equal and treated with respect."

'We need to breathe life into this music'

Thompson hopes that "Black Keys" and concerts like it will have a ripple effect. He wants Black composers' pieces to become part of the standard repertoire that shows up in students' lessons and on professional auditions for orchestras and other ensembles.

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Over the past few years, performances of Black creators' works by longtime music institutions have become more common. For example, works by James Price Johnson; Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; and Florence Price have been performed on the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's Unheard Voices series that highlights under-represented composers. Earlier this year, Indianapolis Opera performed "Yardbird," an opera about saxophonist Charlie Parker with a libretto by Bridgette Wimberly.

With commissions from living composers and a growing music library, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra has more opportunities to tell narrative stories with pieces that many audience members are just coming to know, said Matthew Kraemer, music director of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.

"I think we're all better off being able to hear this music in a live concert setting as opposed to just on YouTube, for example. We need to breathe life into this music, and we do that by performing," Kraemer said.

All of that will broaden authentic expression that speaks to history and current circumstances, Thompson said.

"There are tons of scholars and musicians the world over who are doing the exact same work," he said. "One day, we'll wake up and we can just program because we're all automatically being unconsciously inclusive, all looking to the human story and realizing that what we have to draw from is a whole lot bigger than what we traditionally have been," he said.

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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sold-out show of Black composers' works fills gaps in classical music