Our Story
Historians of art and culture may not currently take into full account that Black culture and creativity is a part of every musical institution's foundation that we currently see today.
D-Composed, a Black chamber music collective, exists to ensure that we never forget it.
Started in 2017 and led by their mission to uplift and empower society through the music of Black composers, this Chicago-based creative incubator acts as a bridge between the past and present to the future of representation, music-centered experiences, and the communal power of Black composers and their impact.
This group of changemakers is presently purposeful, creating their own rules around access and reimagining safe, culturally-based spaces that reflect the Black experience. Out in the world, African-Americans make up only 2.4% of American orchestras, and two-thirds of orchestra repertoire still primarily features compositions from deceased white males*. Meanwhile, D-Composed is 100% composed of Black musicians, and the repertoire exclusively features the works of Black composers, standing firm in its mission. These innovators challenge these statistics by intentionally creating experiences and thematics that appeal to a broad range of interests and identities within the Black community. At a D-Composed program, it’s no surprise to see worlds collide - to hear the sounds of Florence Price in the same program as Solange.
Holding the door open to a historically excluded experience, D-Composed is caring for communities of color via culture and creativity giving access and exposure to Black creativity, Black culture, and Black life through thoughtful programming, events, and content.
Music is not just solely entertainment, for this collective music is a storytelling tool that educates and inspires. Unapologetically Blackness is at the core of their experience, protecting, nurturing and sustaining, is on the other side. In the middle, lies their impact - the people who make up these experiences, whether as a musician, a creative, or a community member.
"My soul thanks you for your work, creativity, and visibility,” one attendee has shared. “As a person who played flute & trumpet for 13 yrs and left the music scene because of white-try & a crushed spirit, y’all have inspired me to revive my musical spirit!"
Their community engagement programming offers free and accessible performances to communities that have traditionally been excluded from classical music experiences. These communities include schools, domestic violence shelters, senior centers, juvenile detention centers, hospital patients, etc.
Expanding their mission into educational materials, their coloring books have reached 500+ teachers and students throughout the Chicagoland area and are just the start for what’s to come.
As the only all-Black ensemble and the only ensemble that focuses exclusively on the works of Black composers in Chicago, D-Composed partners with institutions with a proven commitment to communities of color. They made history as the first classical music ensemble for Today at Apple on Michigan Ave and have collaborated with The Rebuild Foundation, MCA Chicago, Arts & Public Life with the University of Chicago, and are extending their reach beyond Chicago with partnerships with The Kaufman Music Center and TUCCA in Brazil.
The walls that exist to keep Black people out of America’s most beloved cultural institutions are meant to be scaled and then dismantled by the creative architects who are bold enough to build against the status quo.
The meaning of the collective’s name embodies that boldness in action.
D–COMPOSED /DEE-KUHM-POHZD/ – ADVERB - Our creative process involves the breaking down preconceived notions, barriers, and opinions of what people think classical music should be to re-writing our own narrative to reflect what the classical world could be.
A D-Composed encounter is not only well designed and intentional, it’s an environment that lends itself to liberation: of expression, of creativity, and of exclusive practices that dampen the heart of culture. You’ll walk away ready to experience the completeness of culture in your own life and community.
*Source: League of American Orchestras, SUNY Fredonia’s Institute for Composer Diversity, in partnership with the League of American Orchestras, with support from the Sphinx Organization’s Venture Fund.