Tahirah Whittington at the Sphinx Laureates concert.
By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER
Orchestras, which are often criticized for not offering more diverse programming, are less frequently called on to account for the lack of diversity within their ranks. But blacks and Latinos combined make up only about 4 percent of the musicians in American professional orchestras, according to the Sphinx Organization, a national nonprofit that works to increase minority participation in classical music.
Judging by the excellent performances of the young black and Latino musicians in the Sphinx Laureates concert on Tuesday at Carnegie Hall, presented by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the organization has every prospect of achieving its goal.
The audience showed its appreciation with thunderous applause before, after and sometimes during each work. The program began with a lively, polished presentation of the opening allegro from Bach’s Concerto for Three Violins in D (BWV 1064), with fine performances by a trio of teenagers: Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, Maia Cabeza and Robert Switala. Chelsea Tipton II led the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, comprising alumni of the Sphinx Competition for young black and Latino string players, in a performance notable for its lilting pulse and dynamic contrast.
“I didn’t know a cello could do that,” exclaimed a woman in the audience after Tahirah Whittington’s virtuosic, soulful rendition of “Perpetual Motion” from Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Lamentations,” a suite for solo cello. Elena Urioste gave a richly toned, passionate account of the solo violin part in Leonid Desyatnikov’s orchestral arrangement of the sultry “Invierno Porteño” from Piazzolla’s “Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas.”
The Harlem Quartet, all first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition, gave a spirited rendition of a Paul Chihara arrangement called “Ellington Fantasy: Take the A Train.” The work, based on the music by Billy Strayhorn, had fine contributions from Ilmar Gavilan, the first violinist.
Following remarks by Aaron P. Dworkin, Sphinx’s founder and president, and an introductory video, the program concluded with Michael Abels’s energetic arrangement for string quartet and string orchestra of his “Delights and Dances,” which incorporates jazz, blues, bluegrass and Latin dance elements. The Harlem Quartet played with panache.
Based on the rapt attention and enthusiastic response of many of the children in Tuesday’s audience, the Sphinx Organization may achieve another of its goals: increasing the number of blacks and Latinos in classical music audiences.
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