40 Emerging Young Musicians Selected to Perform in National Pathways Festival Orchestra with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Selected through a competitive audition process, 40 emerging musicians of color will study and perform with renowned professionals at the March 18 & 19 National Pathways Festival and Annual Convening. This multi-day musical intensive is hosted in partnership with the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network (NIMAN) and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) at Cincinnati Music Hall.
Launched in January 2021, NIMAN is a national coalition that works to align, promote, and develop equitable opportunities for musicians of color. Two years later, NIMAN is formalizing the National Pathways Collective, a network of partners that provide free and intensive classical music resources to advanced pre-college musicians of color. Musicians selected to join the National Pathways Festival Orchestra (NPFO) will travel to Cincinnati to learn from renowned music professionals, perform with orchestral musicians, and network with industry professionals and peers.
The Festival culminates in a side-by-side performance with the NPFO and CSO in a program that features Brian Raphael Nabors’ Pulse for Orchestra and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, led by Fort Worth Symphony Principal Guest Conductor Kevin John Edusei on March 19 at the Cincinnati Music Hall. Tickets for this program can be found at cincinnatisymphony.org.
The Annual Convening takes place concurrently with the Festival and engages NIMAN members, strategic partners, and industry professionals from all stages of musical development in conversations that promote progress toward NIMAN’s mission to create a level playing field in classical music. Interested attendees can register at niman.org and reserve a hotel room at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza for a reduced rate.
The 2023 National Pathways Festival Orchestra Roster includes (pictured from left to right):
VIOLIN I
Ella Saputra, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
Miro Raj, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Rishab Das, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Javier Irizarry, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
VIOLIN II
Chloe Hyun, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Samuel Igbo, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Rising Stars
Adam Elbohy, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Anthony Holc, Baltimore-Washington Musical Pathways
Patricia Harden, Primavera Fund
VIOLA
Lucas Lauprasert, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Israel Anselme, Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music
Dubravko Rodriguez, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
CELLO
Brandon Leonard, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Talent Development Program
Alex Aranzabal, Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music
Emilia Lacy, Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music
Kwanchi Loo, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
Lucas Das, Washington Musical Pathways Initiative
Xavier Ip, Project STEP
Caleb Graupera, Project STEP
BASS
Anderson Bernal, Baltimore-Washington Musical Pathways
Mateo Estanislao, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
Travis Phillips, Cleveland Institute of Music Musical Pathways Fellowship
OBOE
Zachary Allen, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
Giovanni Sanchez, Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music
FLUTE
Alliese Bonner, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
Aarushi Kumar, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
CLARINET
Nicholas Garrett, Cleveland Institute of Music Musical Pathways Fellowship
BASSOON
Jackson Bernal, Washington Musical Pathways Initiative
Jin Zhang, Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth
HORN
Derek Woods, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
Austin Adaranijo, Washington Musical Pathways Initiative
Aryana Rodriguez, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Rising Stars
TRUMPET
Alexander Vinson, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
Ricardo Lazaro, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Rising Stars
TROMBONE
Orlandis Maise, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
Dayla Spencer, Nashville Symphony Accelerando
Jonathan Martinez, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
TUBA
Cameron Hall, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Talent Development Program
PERCUSSION
Wanye Williams, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative
Raymond Macias, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Rising Stars
About Equity Arc
Equity Arc (formerly known as the National Instrumentalist Mentoring and Advancement Network), is a national coalition of musical organizations and advocates who collaborate to provide classical musicians of color with advancement and mentoring opportunities to further their musical careers. The collective work follows two paths: Building a comprehensive arc of support and mentorship for instrumentalists to navigate the journey from student to professional and assisting in breaking down barriers to achieving success in the field. Equity Arc also provides forums, resources, and training for member organizations to dismantle the structural inequities, biases, and systemic racism ingrained in their policies and practices that inhibit the creation of equitable opportunities and environments for classical musicians of color.
In 2023, Equity Arc launched the National Collective for Musical Pathways, a collaborative initiative that provides a nucleus for Pathways programs across the United States. Pathways programs offer subsidized, musical training and mentorship that prepares pre-college musicians of color to enter prestigious collegiate music institutions. The National Pathways Festival is an annual opportunity for select fellows in the Collective to convene annually for a multi-day musical intensive, working alongside professional musicians and performing in our country’s preeminent concert halls. The Equity Arc Annual Convening brings together partners from across the field for focused discussion and action to level the playing field in classical music.
About Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
With a legacy dating back 128 years, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is considered one of America’s finest and most versatile ensembles. Led by Louis Langrée since 2013, the CSO’s distinguished roster of past music directors includes Leopold Stokowski, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Reiner, Max Rudolf, Jesús López Cobos and Paavo Järvi. Matthias Pintscher is the Orchestra’s Creative Partner, and previous artistic partners have included Lang Lang, Philip Glass, Branford Marsalis and Jennifer Higdon. The Orchestra also performs as the Cincinnati Pops, founded by Erich Kunzel in 1977 and currently led by John Morris Russell with Damon Gupton serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The CSO further elevates the city’s vibrant arts scene by serving as the official orchestra for the Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati
Opera and Cincinnati Ballet.
Deeply committed to inclusion, relevance, and enhancing and expanding opportunities for the children of Greater Cincinnati, the Orchestra works to bring music education, in its many different forms, to as broad a public as possible. In 2020, the CSO was one of the first American orchestras to create a Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer position to ensure the absorption of best DE&I practices into every facet of the organization. The CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship, a nationally recognized program in partnership with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, provides a graduate degree-level education with performance and professional development opportunities for extraordinary young string players from populations historically underrepresented in American orchestras. The CSO is also an incubator for and partner to NIMAN, a consortium of American orchestras, professional musicians and educators established to address the lack of racial equity in the classical music field by aligning resources and collaborating to strengthen the trajectory of classical instrumentalists of color at all stages of their pre-careers.
Contact media@equityarc.org for more information and media inquiries.
