How the Charlotte Strings Collective is bringing color to classical music

WFAE radio features the Charlotte Strings Collective, which includes CoA+A alumni Alice Silva, Matt Primm, and Malik Johnson and cello professor Mira Frisch.

The group got started in August 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. Silva and the other musicians wanted to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.

They performed a piece virtually called “Mother and Child,” written in 1943 by William Grant Still, who was known as the “dean” of African American composers. For Alice Silva and the group, performing Still’s piece was their way of showing solidarity.

“It gave us the opportunity to support the movement with the tools that we had, which is our instruments, and our music, and voices,” Silva said. “We just wanted to be there and say, ‘We are here with you and the movement.’”

Since then, the collective has performed about 30 times in places that include theaters and churches around Charlotte and at conferences in Georgia and New York.

Read or listen to the full story on the WFAE 90.7 FM website.