Feeling Seen in the Classical World
Every year, my mother would take me and my siblings to a concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. I would gasp in awe at the size of the concert hall, the streams of lights embroidering the room, the musicians on stage, and the large number of people in the audience, squirming and adjusting themselves in their seats. As I scanned the room, I would notice how few faces of color were sprinkled into the sea of white. The musicians and audience members shared the same pale complexio