Black History Month: Conversation Starters for String Ensemble Performance and Discussion

Feb 26

Black History Month is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate Black voices, talents, and culture that are woven throughout American history and oftentimes forgotten.

During our 2024 Black History Month celebration, students are exploring the theme Strings and Threads. This year's programming highlights Black artists and musicians whose intergenerational history informs and inspires their art.

We hope that you will continue the conversations started in each session at home, deepening a shared conversation between you.

String Ensemble Performance - Overview

Students split up into groups to get a taste of 3 different string instruments today. Harpist Shelley Greene, cellist Kayla Allen, and violinist Erika Holmes talked about the history, structure, and sound of each of their instruments, as well as the methods and challenges involved in playing them. Students had tons of questions: How did you start your musical career? How much did you practice when you were first starting out? Could you play country music on a harp? Could you play heavy metal on a cello? Did you ever want to quit?

Conversation StartersI hear you experienced another Black History Month presentation. What was it about?

What was it like to hear from each of the musicians?
How did their music and stories make you feel?
What was one comment or question from another student that you found interesting?
If you were to teach me something important that you learned from the women who presented today, what would it be?
What did you find inspiring?

Kayla Allen’s cello career began in the Greater Richmond area—a graduate of Matoaca Middle School and Berklee College of Music, Allen has performed in ensembles that play in venues from Carnegie Hall to Lauryn Hill’s tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of her groundbreaking album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Shelley Greene has played the harp professionally for more than 30 years. An honors graduate of Richmond Community High School, Greene was awarded a 4-year merit scholarship to Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she graduated with honors as the first African-American woman in the school’s history to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Harp Performance. On top of decades of professional performance, she is an educator at heart, with her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership with continued development specifically centered on arts integration, crucial to her term as Implementation Coordinator for Turnaround Arts: Richmond. Greene has been a music and performance instructor at Richmond Public Schools, Virginia Union University, and currently Henrico County Public Schools, where she is a member of the Black Educators’ Collective.

Erika Holmes has taught strings for over ten years and has played with the Petersburg Symphony for over 15 years, in addition to the Richmond Philharmonic, the VCU Health Orchestra, and the Short Pump Symphonette. She also teaches at Anna Julia Cooper School and Central Montessori School, both in East End Richmond.

Thank you to the members of the OHMS Black History Month parent committee for the work and thought put into designing a program designed to show students the interwoven artistry and voices of Black culture.
Tonita Aldridge-Williams P '27, Kasey Buckland P '25, Ellie Burke P '25, Portia Chan P '25, Taekia Glass P '24, Shanza Isom P '26, Becky Lakin P '27, Emily Maynard P '27, Rob Nelson P '24, & Jessica Scalin P '27