Episode #85: Racism in the World of Classical Music with Violinist & Author Brendan Slocumb.

Lisa is hosting solo and is  joined by Brendan Slocumb, who
talks about his book, The Violin Conspiracy.


 Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb was born in Yuba City, California
and was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He is a graduate
of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree
in music education, concentrations on Violin and Viola. While at
UNCG, Brendan was the concertmaster for the University Symphony
orchestra and served as the principal violist. He performed with
numerous small chamber ensembles, including flute and clarinet
choirs, and in the BESK string quartet.


As a musician, Brendan has performed on violin with the
Washington Metropolitan Symphony, the McLean Symphony, the Prince
George's Philharmonic, and the Alexandria Symphony. He currently
serves as the concertmaster for the 


NOVA- Symphony Orchestra. Brendan has been a frequent adjudicator
and guest conductor for several district and regional orchestras
throughout North Carolina and Virginia. He also performs chamber
music with members of the Annandale symphony. He maintains a
private music studio teaching lessons to students on violin,
guitar and piano. 


He is the founder of the nonprofit organization, Hands Across the
Sea, based in the Philippines. After touring the Philippines with
the Northern Virginia Chamber Ensemble and witnessing firsthand
the conditions that many of the young music students and their
families endure, Brendan founded the Hands Across the Sea to
offer support to the Berea School of the Arts in Manila, by
providing instruments, lessons, and monetary support. The
organization also supplements school supplies and dental and
medical assistance. 


In his spare time, Brendan enjoys writing, exercising, collecting
comic books and action figures, and performing with his rock
band, Geppetto's Wüd.



BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Violin Conspiracy



Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is
already mapped out. If he’s lucky, he’ll get a job at the
hospital cafeteria. If he’s extra lucky, he’ll earn more than
minimum wage. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to
become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will
stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making
such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin
suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the
world of classical music.
 
When he discovers that his great-great-grandfather’s beat-up old
fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams
suddenly seem within reach. Together, Ray and his violin take the
world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat
Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the
violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in
its place. Ray will have to piece together the clues to recover
his treasured Strad ... before it’s too late.
 
With the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray’s
great-great-grandfather asserting that the instrument is
rightfully theirs, and with his family staking their own claim,
Ray doesn’t know who he can trust—or whether he will ever see his
beloved violin again.