PANEL DISCUSSION: BLACK CLASSICAL MUSICIANS SPEAK OUT

MODERATOR

TERRANCE MCKNIGHT | When Terrance McKnight moved to New York City, his 96-year-old grandmother offered him a few words of wisdom: “If you’ve got something to say, get out there in the middle of the road and say it; don’t go hiding behind no bush.” From a long line of passionate citizens — his maternal family founded a branch of the NAACP in Mississippi and his father the pastor of a church in Cleveland — Terrance and his siblings were expected to contribute to their community while growing up. Early on, Terrance decided he would take the musician’s journey.

As a teenager, he played trumpet in the school orchestra and played piano for various congregations around Cleveland.  At Morehouse College and Georgia State University he performed with the college Glee Club and New Music Ensemble respectively and subsequently joined the music faculty at Morehouse. While in Georgia he brought his love of music and performing to the field of broadcasting. 

Terrance is an Artistic Advisor for the Harlem Chamber Players and serves on the board of the Bagby Foundation and the MacDowell Colony.  He’s frequently sought out by major cultural organizations for his insight into the cultivation of diverse perspectives and voices in the cultural sphere. He regularly curates concerts and talks at Merkin Concert Hall, the Billie Holiday Theatre, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Museum of Modern Art.

PANELISTS

LADY JESS | Lady Jess (she/her) performs in NYC and LA. LJ is Artistic Director and lead violinist of the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra (UPCO) in New York City, leads strings under the baton of Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony in Baltimore, MD, is a regular Los Angeles session musician, and a soloing member of Beyoncé K Carter’s band. Artist credits include collaborations with Stevie Wonder, The Roots, J.Lo, Max Richter, Alicia Keys, Imagine Dragons, Hans Zimmer, Diana Ross, Spike Lee, Miley Cyrus, Stewart Copeland, Terence Blanchard, Jay Z, JLo, Solange and more. TV credits include The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon with The Roots, Saturday Night Live, and more. 

Recent projects include the Emmy-nominated documentary Homecoming with accompanying live album, the On The Run II Tour with Beyonce and Jay-Z, the Grammy-nominated joint album Everything is Love, and recently released soundtracks to Disney’s The Lion King with Hans Zimmer. As a session musician in Los Angeles, she can also be heard on the soundtrack of Charlie’s Angels, It II and more. While in LA, LJ also performs with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, most recently for performances of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Disney Pixar’s Coco live. In 2021, she served as contractor and concertmaster for the Oscar award-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah. 

LJ made her solo debut at Disney Hall (Los Angeles) in collaboration with Nicole Miller, for and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as part of a festival curated by Essa Pekka Salonen. She was featured soloist with the University of NC School of the Arts Symphony in November 2020, and is currently on tour with the Sphinx Virtousi. In spring of 2021, she was soloist with the Harlem Chamber Players. Lady Jess is a guest panelist and speaker at the League of American Orchestras and Sphinx Con, and is a featured guest of the podcast Being Seen, hosted by Anika Noni Rose. Stay tuned for a new recording of music by Black Composers featuring Lady Jess and Rickey Pageot, coming 2022. 

LEE KOONCE | Lee Koonce has served as President & Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival since 2016.  He has served on the Gateways board since 1997 and, from 2009 until 2016, he served as Chair of the Festival’s Artistic Programs Committee, a group of Gateways musicians who oversee the Festival’s programming.

Prior to his appointment as President & Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival, Mr. Koonce served as Executive Director of Ballet Hispanico in New York City for two years.  And, from 2006-2013, as Executive Director of Third Street Music School Settlement, the oldest and one of the largest community music schools in the nation.

Mr. Koonce served as Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) from 1996 to 2001.  In this position, he was responsible for the creation and implementation of internal and external programs that enabled the CSO to reach more diverse communities.

Mr. Koonce earned a bachelor of music in Piano Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a bachelor of arts in Spanish Literature from Oberlin College, and a master of music in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music.

TITUS UNDERWOOD | Titus Underwood is Principal Oboe of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (NSO), the 2021 recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence award and a 2021 Midsouth Regional Emmy® winner for his work on “We Are Nashville.” Prior to the NSO, he was Acting Associate Principal of Utah Symphony, and has performed as guest principal of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, and Florida Orchestra. A sought-after freelance performer, Titus has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. Titus regularly plays principal oboe in Chineke!, the Gateways Music Festival, and Bellingham Festival of Music. 

Titus received his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Elaine Douvas, and pursued additional studies with Nathan Hughes and Pedro Diaz. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of John Mack, legendary principal oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra, with additional studies from Frank Rosenwein and Jeffrey Rathbun. In 2013, he received his artist diploma from The Colburn School as a student of Allan Vogel.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts.  It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library’s Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries.

The library has 500,000 folders containing clippings on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research. The library also collects a variety of iconography in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope, itself holding 1 million photographs.

The Music Division, as a founding division of The New York Public Library, is the oldest of all the divisions at LPA. Its origins stem from the private library of banker Joseph William Drexel. Upon his death in 1888, his valuable library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets, known as the Drexel Collection, became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became one of the first subject divisions of The New York Public Library.

Public programs are free of charge and take place in the 202-seat Bruno Walter Auditorium located on the lower level. The auditorium is used several times a week for musical performances, film screenings and lectures.