Good morning, dearest Scorekeepers! It's time for another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! This week, we are thrilled to be joined by Alex Laing, principal clarinetist for the Phoenix Symphony, educator, and all-around lovely person! We have a fantastic, and thoroughly edifying conversation about how we can diversify orchestra spaces, how his artistic practice has evolved over the course of his life, and his advice to other young Black artists in the field (0:40:58). Before that, however, I'm not sure if you heard about it, but last week there was little election type situation here in the US. So this week we take a few minutes up top to talk about some of our takeaways from this year's midterms. Then, we have a deeply personal conversation about the frustrations and the hopes of being Global Majority EDI practitioners in a white supremacist world. It gets real, y'all. (And for anyone out there doing this work, we see you! Please know you're not crazy and you're not alone!) Finally, we could never leave you without a moment of Pure Black Joy (1:25:10)! Let's do it to it, everybody!

Oh, and hey, if you or anyone you know is gonna be in Vancouver, BC on Saturday 11/19, come see Rocky speak about the state of Black opera in North America as part of re:Naissance Opera and Vancouver Opera's IndieFest! Get your tickets now!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige Reynolds (Iyawo Inawale)

Guest: Alex Laing

Producer: Rocky Jones

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Links

Alex Laing (Website)

re:Naissance Opera and Vancouver Opera's IndieFest (Website)

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New episodes of THE SCORE drop every other Wednesday. If you like what you hear, please support us and SUBSCRIBE to the show on your favorite podcast app and be sure to SHARE our show with your friends. Also, leaving a 5-star REVIEW on Apple Podcasts is a great way to help people find our show. For more info about the exciting EDI work happening at MN Opera, please visit mnopera.org/edi. Email your questions or comments to thescore@mnopera.org