At the League of American Orchestras 74th National Conference in Nashville, TN there was a very interesting panel session entitled “Engaging the LGBTQ+ Community”. The panel included Daryn Bauer, community engagement manager, The Florida Orchestra; Julie Desbordes, conductor, the Queer Urban Orchestra; Miguel García, marketing & engagement manager, Chicago Sinfonietta; Leo Hurley, composer & Laura Reynolds, VP of education & community engagement of the Seattle Symphony. Daryn Bauer, moderator of the LGBTQ+ session stated, "Even in the past five years, orchestras have made huge strides in being inclusive of the LGBTQ community. The presentations in this session show a small sample of how orchestras have welcomed the community into the halls -- from a composition program for LGBTQ-identified youth who have experienced homelessness to an opera about a Muslim transgender man. There is still a lot of work to do but it was exciting to see what everyone is starting to do around the country.” The session included orchestra professionals & artists alike who addressed events & artistic projects that bring our LGBTQ+ community into focus & welcome their engagement. The panel shared their successes & challenges of engaging the LGBTQ+ community & discussed how to respond to the needs of their local communities in an informative Q&A that followed. Bauer concluded, “This is the first time the League has included a session on engaging the LGBTQ community but the importance felt a lot deeper than the specific programs and ideas. Based on comments I heard, I got a sense that people felt validated as a member of the LGBTQ community themselves, like they belong here, too.”
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What a momentous event for the Orchestra League to include a dedicated session to discussing LGBTQ inclusion in the Symphony Orchestra world. The panel was young and dedicated to this work and I felt very grateful and hopeful. Thanks Charlotte for sharing this with your global audience. Hope it will effect Orchestra programming more and more everywhere.
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