January 8, 2022 I attended a wonderful Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena that included a short piece, “STRUM”, composed by composer of African descent Jessie Montgomery. The LACO orchestra did not include any recognizable players of African descent.
March 19, 2022 I attended a wonderful Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concert at UCLA Royce Hall in Los Angeles that included African American guest conductor Roderick Cox http://www.roderickcox.com/ and African American violinist Randall Goosby https://randallgoosby. com/ in a program of composers Wagner, Mendelssoh+ Brahms. From my seating view, I could see two players of African descent in the LACO Orchestra.
The Long Beach Central Area Association/MusicUNTOLD is a community partner of LACO and we invited guests to the concert. Some of our guests did not arrive until a few minutes before the start of the concert and missed our group photo. Please see the LBCAA/MusicUNTOLD group that arrived early enough for this photo. Thank you LACO executive director Ben Cadwallader