The structure of these "Sight & Sound" performances starts with a curator discussing the art exhibit with accompanying slides, followed by Botstein's introducing the music through brief excerpts and a detailed discussion of the piece's strengths, meanings, and context. Then the piece is played in full, followed by a Q and A.
Tisch Curator at Large Denise Murrell's introduction to "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism" was elucidating and thoughtful. Botstein's discussion of the music was also elucidating and thoughtful and also sometimes funny. He's a charming teacher. The excerpts from the symphony were inviting, and the orchestra was excellent. Strangely enough, the whole symphony was less than the sum of its parts, at least to me.
At the beginning of the Q and A, a Black woman complained that the performance exploited and appropriated Still's work and was arguably racist. With our country's history of systemic racism, the accuser's feelings and distress are understandable. I wish now I had heard Botstein's answer, but I left because these discussions seem to me to be impossible by their nature. (Also, to be honest, I was antsy.) What could Botstein really say? How can one answer such strongly felt emotions? Particularly when you've just been called racist?
I have an answer, however, since I'm not standing there in public like Botstein was. I think that the accusations were unfair.
I should mention that my friend and I had already noted how few Black people there were in the orchestra and the audience. That fact at least partially reflects racism in education and opportunity in the USA. But the woman's comments were specifically about this orchestra playing Still's piece.
First, TON was likely making little to nothing doing this performance. They were taking nothing from Still; I can't see how that would constitute exploitation.
As for appropriation: Botstein's discussion was the exact opposite of that. He spoke at length of Still's experiences, of the pitfalls of people of color or various ethnicities writing for a largely white audience, of how much he respected Still's work, and of how important it be that Still not be forgotten. Botstein in no way took credit for the work or tried to adopt it. Instead, he worked in service to the piece.
As for the day being racist, I do not think it is racist for a white conductor and largely white and Asian-American orchestra to play work by an African-American composer. I also think it's fine for gay people to play straight people in movies (and vice versa), for Asians to play Jewish roles, for men to write female characters, for Black people to perform in classics, and so on. The bottom line is the quality of the work.
The best depiction I have ever seen of a conversation between two teenaged girls was written by John Sayles. In Appropriate, currently on Broadway, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a Black man, has written a strong play featuring only White characters. Barbara Kingsolver's brilliant Demon Copperhead is written in the voice of a young man in Appalachia. And so on.
And, yes, I think it is okay for a non-Black orchestra to play music by a Black man, particularly in the context that Botstein provided. (Though, of course, there should be more Black people in the orchestra!) What wouldn't be okay would be for Still's work to be neglected due to the current cultural climate.
Wendy Caster
