On Listening with Herb Smith

In this episode of On Listening I have the distinct pleasure of
interviewing Herb Smith
(https://rpo.org/conductors-musicians/#musicians). Herb is founder
of the Freedom Trio and is Third Trumpeter of the Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra and conducts for them as well. Herb and I
discuss the importance of listening in music: almost 50% of
performing is listening to other performers and students need to
learn to listen to themselves as they practice. Herb and I share
feelings about the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives
Matter movement, his excitement that the RPO performed at a BLM
rally, and we were both hopeful about change as racism is caught on
camera. Periodically the only Black person in the entire Eastman
Theatre during a concert, Herb shares his experiences in his mostly
white world. In the City of Rochester almost 40% of the population
is Black
(https://datausa.io/profile/geo/rochester-ny/#:~:text=The%205%20largest%20ethnic%20groups,%2DHispanic)%20(3.22%25)
yet in his graduating class at Eastman and as a performer, Blacks
were and are represented significantly less. Enjoy a Rochester
treasure.