Dear IDRS membership,
With the support of the Board of Directors, and as the leader of the Society, I apologize that the programming in the list of bassoon master class clinicians of the 2022 Boulder conference does not reflect the commitment we have placed on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
In general the programming of the conference events came about as a combination of the artistic proposals that were received and complications with artists’ availability. The leadership did not strive enough to achieve more diversity in the programming of the masterclasses and we are sorry that our processes did not ensure a balanced representation. The IDRS leadership takes responsibility for this outcome and we are working on solutions.
The upcoming changes to this year’s conference specific to the masterclasses and any DEI initiatives will be communicated directly to members as soon as they are finalized and scheduled.
Artistic proposals submitted for the 2022 conference indicate that an overwhelming majority of performances and lectures will include at least one work written by a composer from a historically marginalized community. Specific statistics regarding demographics of featured artists included in this conference have been collected during the artistic application process. Please contact the hosts if you are interested in more details.
The Society has changed drastically during the past year, starting with a complete overhaul of the code of regulations and a brand new make up of the Board of Directors, which now requires a minimum of 50% representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), gender balance, and representation from multiple nationalities in Board leadership. We will work closely with the new standing DEI committee, revising hosting agreements (artistic decisions on future conferences will be controlled and overseen by the IDRS conference artistic committee and DEI committee) and seeking collaboration with sponsors of artists in order to guarantee more diversity and inclusion in future conferences.
The Society is evolving and the Board of Directors and I are determined to continue to move forward. We ask for your support and help in order to work together, as we are aware that there is still much to be done.
Please forward any questions or suggestions to me at roper@idrs.org
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