The Sphinx Organization has been on a mission to increase the number of musicians of color in the classical music sector for the past 23 years. And it’s had some impact, helping to increase the number of seats those musicians hold in major U.S. orchestras to 5 percent of the total from 1.5 percent in 1996, Sphinx President and Artistic Director Afa Dworkin said. But there’s still a long way to go, she said. “We feel working collaboratively with the field and inspiring new ideas is the way to really bring our work to scale,” she said. The goal is for the classical music field to be reflective of communities, Dworkin said.
