As an organization committed to helping vocal artists, BSR strongly condemns all forms of hatred, bigotry, and exclusion. We understand that our industry has too often excluded artists and forms of expression that do not fit into a narrow, privileged subset of the vocal arts with roots in white European wealth and colonialism. Similarly, society at large often fails to value or respect people because of their race, ethnicity, physical or mental ability, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status. Systemic racism hurts our entire community; historically excluded and marginalized persons bear most of the pain of these unjust systems.
Cultural equity promotes the inclusion and representation of all people in policies and practices. Boston Singers’ Resource’s commitment to cultural equity includes evaluating both our internal processes and the services that we provide to our community.
We believe in encouraging and lifting up the voices of those who have been historically excluded. We celebrate the artistic creativity, complexity, and skill that exist in all cultures. We are committed as an institution and as individuals to examining our own privilege and identifying and addressing the blind spots that keep us from fully realizing our mission of supporting New England’s classical singers. We also commit to providing resources and opportunities for growth to others in our sector through our programming and our community leadership.
Therefore we will:
- Actively recruit and hire artists of color as blog contributors, workshop clinicians, panelists & adjudicators, as we work to make the demographics of our staff, board and contractors more similar to the demographics of greater Boston.
- Amplify diverse voices on our social media platforms and blog.
- Foster connections with student groups that promote anti-racism and DEI initiatives at local colleges and conservatories.
- Hold in-person events in venues that are underused for arts programming and are fully accessible.
- Prioritize hiring local vendors and Black-owned businesses for event support.
- Update our website’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion resources page quarterly.
- Include anti-racism training for all staff and board members.
- Devote at least 40% of our workshops budget to creating programs focused on anti-racism and inclusion in our sector.
- Promote pay equity through information-gathering and discussion to empower singers to obtain fair payment.
These goals were developed and agreed upon by our board and staff and will guide BSR operations and programming.
Kristen Buabin, DEI Associate
Zachary Calhoun, Programs Associate
Margaret Felice, Executive Director
James C. S. Liu, Director
Erin Merceruio Nelson, Treasurer
Peter Pulsifer, President
Mauri Tetreault, Outreach Coordinator
Martin Thomson, Director