With a new series, BSO’s Lucia Lin insists: ‘Classical music is not Eurocentric’
Q. You said you looked at the composers after you chose them and realized they were diverse. In picking musicians to duet with, did you consciously try to break stereotypes for certain instruments?
A. Two of the composers chose percussion, and I thought OK, when people think of percussion, they usually think of a white male. Then someone mentioned Maria [Finkelmeier], and I was really impressed by what she’s done, so I approached her, and she said she would come onboard. Charles Overton also breaks the barriers of who people think a harp player is. It made me think of [former BSO principal harpist] Ann Hobson Pilot, when she started learning the harp and someone said to her, “There are no Black harpists.”
It’s been really an interesting journey, creating this project. In the beginning I just wanted to have these duos written. Then I decided, you know, part of the reason people are afraid of new music is they don’t understand it. What happens if people get to know the composers a little bit? That’s when I added the interview aspect. Nick Benavides spoke about the issues at the border; a lot of his work is inspired by issues he sees in the Southwest. Talking to Nicky Sohn, she once wrote a piece with an American jazz theme, and someone came up to her and said “Oh, I can really hear the Asian-ness in your piece.” [Laughs] Amazing, right?
Full article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/04/09/arts/with-new-series-bsos-lucia-lin-insists-classical-music-is-not-eurocentric/