Promoting Racial Justice and Equity In Choral Music
ACS's board and staff, with the guidance of the new Anti-Racism and Inclusion of Singers Everywhere committee, have adopted a new statement of guiding principles for our shared work to promote anti-racist policy and practice. View our new statement in the video below. We view this statement as a strong starting point, but we know that all of our work to build an anti-racist culture within ACS will be a continually iterative and generative process. Send comments or ideas - whether you're a member or not - to info@ashevillechoralsociety.org.
“We the board members, staff, and singers of the Asheville Choral Society are dedicated to promoting antiracist policies, procedures, and culture. Correcting systems of oppression requires intentional work against unjust systems. As an artistic organization, we will intentionally work towards inclusive repertoire and membership. We will actively promote Black music and voices. Working together, we will hold each other accountable for our implicit biases, and will make changes to dismantle systems of racism that disproportionately affect Black, indigenous, and people of color.”
This statement is the first of our actions to live our value of diversity and inclusion. Future action will be centered in three areas:
- Lifting up Black voices and composers of color in our repertoire,
- Building our community with intention, and
- Educating singers in ways that music and anti-racism intersect.
ACS's new Anti-Racism and Inclusion of Singers Everywhere committee, along with our board of directors and staff, will guide this work, and our ongoing accountability measures to ensure that we are living our shared values.