Chicago Sinfonietta pledges to promote diversity

CHICAGO -- Paul Freeman calls it "preaching the gospel of symphonic diversity."\nFreeman, the musical director of the Chicago Sinfonietta, sees the midsize orchestra he helped start in 1987 as more than a chance to pursue musical excellence. He sees it as a means to extend the reach of classical music beyond the realm of white musicians playing music by white men to white audiences.\n"I thought it would be a great idea to bring in African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians into the fold," he said. "That became a social mission to work with diversity. Now, generally we have 25 or 35 percent or so people of color in the orchestra."\nFreeman said the orchestra's makeup is mirrored in its audience.\n"Many of the regular orchestras certainly try for community outreach, but often it's done in a vacuum," he said.\n"In order to have an organization of diversity of any kind, you have to have diversity throughout the organization. In the case of the orchestra, it starts on the stage, on the board, the friends groups and hence the audience. It's all interrelated," Freeman said.\nThe Sinfonietta also seeks to perform works by different composers. In January it released the third CD in its African Heritage series, which features 20th century composers of African descent, on Cedille Records.\n"I thought with our program of diversity, it would be an ideal series to bring here," Freeman said.\nHe led a nine-album series of recordings of black composers in the 1970s on the Columbia label and wanted to update the performances and sound quality, as well as highlight the work of some black composers who have arrived since the series was recorded.\n"He's such a groundbreaker in terms of bringing out this repertoire. There is wonderful music by composers who aren't dead white males," said James Ginsburg, the head of Cedille.\n"When people hear them they say, 'Why haven't I heard this before?'" he said.