Warner Classics backs Black Lives in Music day

press release:

Black Lives In Music (BLiM), the organisation set up to address racial inequality in the music industry and create opportunities for Black, Asian and ethnically diverse musicians and professionals, today announce ‘Classically Black’, a symposium one-day event exploring the cutting edge of classical music.

Shining a light on Black and underrepresented musicians and composers in an unprecedented event, Classically Black will take place at Kings Place in London on Saturday 19th October. Produced by BLiM, and sponsored by ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), this ground-breaking event will explore the experience of being a minority in classical music and champion the works of Black music artists and creators past and present, while asking ‘what is classical now?’

‘Classically Black’ aims to stimulate and provoke thought around representation and equity for underrepresented groups. It will demonstrate that despite often being erased from its history, these artists are forging the future of classical. Using their own culture and music experience, they are shaping the music by bringing jazz, funk and more, along with technology, into classical. With the British Library’s new exhibition Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music celebrating the immense contribution of Black musicians to UK music and culture, Classically Black will help to bring pioneering classical music into the 21st century conversation.

Held at the multi-arts venue Kings Place, renowned for curating world-class shows and festivals which engage a breadth of different communities, the venue feels like a fitting home for Classically Black. Kings Place strives to offer a supportive environment for artists from under-represented backgrounds to build their audiences and communities. The venue is a member organisation of Black Lives in Music and a signatory to its charter aiming to reflect London’s multicultural mix across all levels of the organisation, from artistic programme to work force, partners and audiences. It also signed up to the Key Change Pledge in 2019. Events for Classically Black will take place across multiple spaces at Kings Place, including Hall One – known for its exceptional acoustics – Hall Two and the intimate St Pancras Room.

There will be two newly commissioned works by British Black composers Pete Letanka and Jason Yarde, to be performed and recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, plus a late afternoon showcase for emerging talent sponsored by Warner Classics, networking opportunities, interactive discussions, panels, music workshops, and much more.

The evening will host a bespoke show with multi-talented singer/songwriter, cellist, pianist, composer, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, who has collaborated with Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Andrea Bocelli, Jools Holland and Peter Gabriel. Her show at Classically Black will be titled The Sound of Classically Black: Ayanna Witter-Johnson & Friends, showcasing works commissioned by Solem Quartet, the Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra and performed by her band and members of world renowned orchestras, highlighting how her classical tone weaves its way through her musical roots of reggae, soul and jazz.