Maestro rising: Oakland signs new chief, 29
OrchestrasThe Oakland Symphony in California has chosen Kedrick Armstrong as its music director, starting immediately. He succeeds the late Michael Morgan, who put in 30 years at the Symphony until his death in 2021.
Armstrong, who is from Georgetown, SC, is currently Principal Conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony. Read an interview with him here.
Need to fix Oakland’s crimes first before They Shall Have Music.
But what if the Orchestra, by the profile of its programming and activism, is making a contribution to the solution?
Better to do it outside of concert hall, by BLASTING classical music and opera in high crime areas and stores like 7-Eleven and CVS. That should deter a lot of ‘usual suspects’.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive.
Apparently, Oakland has a long history of hiring conductors via affirmative action. That must be why whenever experts speak of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, they always start with Oakland.
I’m assuming hiring black music directors automatically means affirmative action? Ridiculous and myopic.
DEI hire. The world is we live in.
You all say that anytime someone black is hired. So boring!
Bravo.