After the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Conservatory of Music were forced by the Trump Administration to pause their joint Emerging Black Composers Project (EBCP) due to what they call “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences.” (to read as: preferences for non-white races).
One of the winning composers of that program, Trevor Weston, chair of the music department at Drew University, told the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s difficult to see really positive things stop because of a coming climate of fear.“
Composer Shawn E. Okpebholo, who received an honorable mention in the EBCP’s first award year, wrote in an Instagram post: “Due to the impact of anti-DEI policies, initiatives like EBCP, institutions like the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and arts organizations like the San Francisco Symphony are being forced to navigate an increasingly complex and hostile reality. »
