Comment: SESA “has never performed a composition by Chevalier de Saint-George”

I beg to differ with the comments posted by John Malveaux. The Southeast Symphony HAS played works by Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges more than once. He was included on a Young Peoples Concert in 1998 which included works by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Bizet. Mr. Malveaux did serve on the Board of Directors for a limited period of time and had as his objective, that the Southeast Symphony should program ONLY works by African-American composers to the exclusion of all others. We feel that this would be too narrow a focus and would not reflect the audience appeal and the tastes of the Greater Los Angeles area.
One of our major goals of SESA is to expose young people to the wealth and depth of the entire world of classical music. Imagine not including Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms or the all of the Contemporary composers of today. William Grant Still, Duke Ellington, Adolphus Hailstork and many others are included in our recent repertoire: not to mention, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Patrice Rushen and others.
The Southeast Symphony was founded in 1948 as an organization which would provide opportunities for minority musicians which were not available to them in the commercial orchestras of the day.
That is not longer true to such an extent today. As Earl Ofari Hutchinson said, we are NOW a part of the wider scene and it is no longer a big deal. "The Classical Music Experience is Our experience too."
Sandra Wheeler, President, Board of Directors, Southeast Symphony Association