Curtis Institute of Music to Present Black Composers Project 

Directed by current Curtis student Dillon Scott, two concerts will be held in December 2023 showcasing Black composers

A current Curtis Institute of Music student, violist Dillon Scott is a former senior finalist of the Sphinx Competition this past January. 

In December, he is organizing two chamber music performances at Curtis that aim to honor and celebrate the music of black composers. 

The concert program features David Baker’s Roots II; George Walker’s String Quartet No. 1; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10; and Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 2.

In preparation for these performances, Scott researched the repertoire, organized three outreach performances at different high schools throughout Philadelphia, plus held additional performances throughout the city. 

The first concert will be held on December 6, 2023, at 7:30 PM, at Curtis’s Field Concert Hall. The second concert will be on December 9, 2023, at 7 PM at the All Hallows Church. 

Supported by Curtis faculty members with coaching and facilitation, 15 Curtis students involved in this project include violinists Sameer Agrawal, Corina Deng, Yiyang Hou, Hairui Lei, Na Hyun Della Kyun, Alexandra Cooreman, and Haerim Oh.

More student artists include Curtis cellists Nygel Witherspoon, Carson Ling-Efird, and Romain-Olivier Gray; violists Davin Mar and Annis Cheuk Lam Ma; clarinetist Tzu-Yi Yu, and pianist Adrian Zaragoza.

Public education is the most important part of this project, Scott tells The Violin Channel. In highlighting this music, he hopes to bring the city together and inspire people to be advocates for what they believe in.