rch u e
the Arco
Making classical music accessible to tens of
thousands of minority kids is what he does.
By Robin Schwartz
T
he violin is his instrument — for
creative expression, personal
escape and orchestrating social
change — and he's a pro. But,
to truly understand the depth
of Aaron Dworkin's love affair
with classical music and his
connection to the art form, you
have to peel back the layers of the maestro
himself.
Dworkin, an accomplished electric
and acoustic violinist, describes himself
as a "black, white, Jewish, Irish Catholic,
Jehovah's Witness?' The 40-year-old, who
lives in Ypsilanti, was adopted as an infant
by Barry and Susan Dworkin of New York
City; both Jewish neuroscience professors,
Susan has since passed away.
"I grew up Jewish and it's a very im-
portant part of me," says Dworkin, who
currently doesn't practice any particular
religion. "Nine years ago, I was reunited
with my birth parents. (He's still in regular
contact with them.) I found out my moth-
er is a white, Irish Catholic, and my father
is a black Jehovah's Witness. I certainly
don't fit into any box, and I never have
Religion aside, Dworkin is a man of
many other things: a husband (his wife,
Ma Dworkin, has a Muslim mother and a
Jewish father); a father to sons Noah, 11,
and Amani, 3 (the family regularly takes
advantage of events at the JCC in Ann
Arbor); and founder and president of the
Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, the
leading national arts group focused on
youth development and diversity in classi-
cal music. His programs have fostered the
musical development of tens of thousands
of African American and Latino students
(both of his young sons also play the violin).
Because minority musicians are grossly
underrepresented in orchestras across the
country, Dworkin knows the mountain
he's climbing is steep. "Today, about 4
percent of orchestra members across the
country are both black and Latino com-
bined," Dworkin says. "About five years
ago, the Chicago Philharmonic hired its
first African American musician in history.
The New York Philharmonic has none."
Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow (nick-
named the Genius Award), a member of
the Obama National Arts Policy Commit-
tee and President Obama's first nominee
to the National Council on the Arts, Dwor-
kin has received countless honors from a
multitude of organizations.
He earned both a bachelor's degree
in music and master's of music in violin
performance at the University of Michigan
20 March 2011 I
RED HEAD
and also studied at Michigan's Interlochen
Arts Academy. He's been featured in na-
tional publications and broadcasts, shared
his story as a keynote speaker and lecttrer
and served on the board of numerous
prestigious organizations. But if you go
back to the earliest pages in the score of
his life, Aaron Dworkin was simply the kid
who didn't fit in.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
When he was 10, Dworkin's family
moved to a small town in Pennsylvania.
That only amplified young Aaron's feelings
of isolation.
"I was a young kid with a huge Afro; I
was black, yet I had an older brother who
was white. I played the violin — pretty
much all of the core tools necessary for
middle-schoolers and high-schoolers to
torture a fellow classmate," he says. "Music
was my therapy."
Dworkin first picked up a violin at age
5 after he heard his adoptive mother, an
amateur violinist, playing classical music.
He instantly loved it; he was hooked.
"The violin has been part of my life
since before I could read so it's always
been a core part of me," Dworkin reflects.
"I always had the ability to communicate
through the violin. It's been my solace and
the biggest constant in my life."
Yearning to share that experience with
young people like himself in underserved
communities, and tired of looking up on
stage at orchestral performances to find
few, if any, musicians who resembled him,
Dworkin founded the Sphinx Organization
in 1996. It is named for the mythical crea-
ture with a lion's body and a human head.
More than $150,000 in prizes and
scholarships are awarded annually
through the Sphinx Competition. Other
programs, which reach more than 35,000
young people each year, include a Sphinx
Orchestra (you'll find video of some of the
group's performances on YouTube), a sum-
mer camp, preparatory music institute
and performance academy.
And, if you think classical music is
inherently "uncool" and wouldn't be of
interest to students, Dworkin points out
that superstars like Lady Gaga are classi-
cally trained.
"When we strip away the veneer of
classical music and the trappings that
sometimes accompany it, we find young
people absolutely love it, "he says. "Any
barriers are man-made barriers; there are
certainly no artistic barriers between clas-
sical music and young people."
As you might expect, Dworkin is trou-
bled by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
strike that has dragged on for months. It's
the longest labor dispute in the sympho-
ny's history. At press time, DSO musicians
had rejected a contract that management
was calling its "final offer." With the two
sides locked in a battle over salary cuts
and other financial issues, the rest of the
DSO season was "suspendedf No new
contract talks were scheduled.
"It's incredibly unfortunate," Dworkin
said. "Detroit really
thrives and benefits
from having one of
the top orchestras in
the country here. All
orchestras are facing
great challenges;
the nonprofit sector
has been signifi-
cantly affected by
the downturn in
the economy. But at
times when com-
munities are hardest
hit, our ability to
express ourselves to
one another is criti-
cally important. No
one seeks a commu-
nity that's devoid of
the artsf
GETTING PERSONAL
"All I sought was acceptance,
Any clique's shell I could not crack.
They feared the anomaly, too bad for
me,
That I got good grades, couldn't play
spades 'cause;
They said I wasn't really Black."
The above passage is an excerpt from
one of Dworkin's provocative poems titled,
"They Said I Wasn't Really Black." His
personal performance art includes classi-
cal music, photography, sketches and the
spoken word. On Sunday, March 6, he'll
be performing this and other selections as
part of a multimedia presentation called
Metamo7phosis at the University of Michi-
gan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor. Another
poem focuses on his emotional visit to the
concentration camp in Dachau, Germany,
as a teenager.
Dworkin has been featured in a docu-
mentary called Breaking the Sound Bar-
rier; he's produced and recorded two CDs
and has published an autobiographical
book of poetry and a children's book. As
his beloved Sphinx Organization prepares
to celebrate its 15th year, he's also putting
the finishing touches on a memoir that he
expects will be published by late summer.
"People think I'm a workaholic; but
from my perspective, I simply don't work.
I get to get up every day and do what I
love," he says. "My work is artistic excel-
lence, enhancing education and helping
young people; and that just fills me with
such a sense of purpose."
When he's not working, Dworkin enjoys
watching independent films and consid-
ers himself a "foodie." You might see him
at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor or at various
other local establishments that specialize
in Indian, Thai and Mediterranean fare.
While culinary creations, music, family
and other artistic mediums sustain him,
his life's work is to be a positive force
for social change. His ultimate goal is to
change the face of classical music — and
to enhance it for future generations.
"I'd like to see a day when classical
music plays a part in the everyday lives of
young people?" he says. "I think classical
music needs and is desperately seeking
new interpretations and diverse voices:' RT
Editor's Note: You can catch Aaron
Dworkin's upcoming performance at the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State St.,
in Ann Arbor; on Sunday, March 6, at 6
p.m. A reception will follow the one-hour
peiforniance. The event is free and open
to the public. For more information, go to
www.umma.uniich.edu.
www.redthreadmagazine.com