OUR MISSION

Challenge the Stats (CTS) exists with the goal of empowering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists and using music as a tool for social justice. To date, CTS has positively impacted over 3,000 students and 200 musicians through concerts, workshops, and artistic programming.

We are driven by a mission to challenge two sets of statistics: those that reflect the racial inequality that is all too present in the classical music field and the systemic oppression faced by BIPOC in the broader society.

**Source :Diversity In The Arts: The Past, Present, and Future of African American and Latino Museums, Dance Companies, and Theater Companies commissioned by the DeVos Institute (2015)

OUR IMPACT

Our Commitment to Justice through the Arts

Challenge the Stats provides a space of creativity, community, and advocacy for communities of color through our concert series; as well as spaces of aspiration and inspiration for young people through our educational workshops. Our highest priority is to empower a generation of classical musicians of color to spark social change in their own communities by leveraging the talents they have honed throughout their years of training.

By challenging the statistics of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous life in America, CTS is also challenging the abysmal realities of racial inequality that too often define classical music spaces. Professional orchestras remain among the least diverse institutions in America, including musicians, administrators, and staff. A 2016 study commissioned by the League of American Orchestras found that only 4.2% of US orchestral musicians are Black or Latino and only 8.3% of US orchestral staff are Black or Latino. Further, a 2015 DeVos Institution study found that only 14% of US Opera audiences are Black or Latino. This lack of diversity limits artists of color and contributes to the structural racism faced by communities of color. 

Challenge the Stats has found a creative way to bind classical music and social justice, serve diverse communities, and empower artists across the nation. To date, CTS has impacted the lives of over 2,000 students and 250 musicians of color across the nation through concerts, workshops, and other programs presented in partnerships with NPR’s From the Top, Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Sphinx Organization at venues such as National Center for Civil and Human Rights, John D. O’Bryant African American Institute, and First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.

OUR FOUNDER