What is The Crescendo Lab?
The Crescendo Lab is a classical music mentoring program that exposes Black and brown youth to Black and brown classical musicians and composers in history to cultivate and nurture the musical passions of their souls.
The Backstory
In the novel Song In A Weary Throat: Memoir Of An American Pilgrimage, Pauli Murray stated, “What is often called exceptional ability is nothing more than persistent endeavor.” A persistent endeavor seemed to be a great way to think about all the things I’ve been involved in since childhood that have evolved into relatively exceptional abilities.
So many of my talents, skills, and interests are the result of persistent endeavors. For Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC) in this country, the opportunity to develop their talents, skills, and interests beyond the classroom is limited. Inspired by Pauli Murray’s words, I secured official nonprofit 501(c)(3) status for Persistent Endeavors Foundation, Inc. from the Internal Revenue Service in early 2023 and planned my first initiative. I set out to address the issue of representation in American orchestras.
Our American classical music tradition is predominantly Eurocentric, drawing heavily from the harmonic language of Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner. Less than 2% of musicians in American orchestras are African American, according to a 2014 study by the League of American Orchestras. Only 4.3% of conductors are Black, and composers remain predominantly white. After several months of thinking about how I could make a difference, I landed on mentoring young Black and brown musicians and encouraging their participation in orchestra. I immediately sought opportunities for grants, fundraising, and other support as planned.
The Crescendo Lab
I had fun developing my idea and used the word crescendo in the project’s name. The initiative was a way for me to help gradually increase the artistry and sound of my underrepresented community by mentoring young Black and brown musicians.
The first opportunity to formalize my idea for a classical music mentoring program for youth yielded a $750 cash prize. I presented the idea (The Crescendo Lab) to a panel of judges in April 2023 at the Inaugural Be All You Passion Project Festival hosted by Be All You founder Ryan Pruitt at the University of Pennsylvania.
I was nervous. As festival judges, parents, festival participants, and visitors stopped at my booth, I passionately shared my research, minimal viable project (MVP), project benefits, and my ask. It became easier to enlist support for my idea for a classical music mentoring program that exposes Black and Brown youth to Black and Brown classical musicians and composers in history to cultivate and nurture the musical passions of their souls.
The Crescendo Lab won second place out of 40 projects PA, DE, and NJ high school students presented during the festival.
I launched The Crescendo Lab pilot at the Art of Living Collective, LLC in Englewood, NJ, courtesy of its founder, Andrea Patterson. The program consists of 3-5 weekly sessions (up to 45 minutes) designed to enhance the student’s self-confidence, develop a deeper appreciation for diversity in classical music, and discover the joy in persistent practice. Each session includes a History component (a Black or brown musician or composer for each session), opportunities to play fun music, goal-setting, and more!
