Jugadora invisible - La historia de Rosemary Sanders

 
Rosemary Sanders nació en 1921 en Chicago y a los cinco años se trasladó con sus padres a South Bend, Indiana. Su madre, Helen, trabajaba para Gertrude Oliver Cunningham, quien reconoció el talento de Rosemary y le compró un Stradivarius en la década de 1930. Al no haber profesores de cuerda afroamericanos en South Bend en aquella época, Rosemary estudió de forma privada en Chicago, en la Sherwood Music School. Fue miembro de la orquesta del instituto Riley, de la que fue secretaria. Se presentó a una audición y fue aceptada en la Sinfónica de South Bend en 1940, donde tocó durante 15 años, sentada en la última fila de la sección de segundo violín. Actuó en una época en la que la segregación imperaba en South Bend; las instituciones culturales y sociales, los hoteles y los restaurantes de la ciudad no admitían afroamericanos. El nombre de Rosemary nunca aparecía en los programas de la Sinfónica, y en las fotografías formales aparecía sentada detrás de la orquesta, con sólo la cabeza visible. Además de ser miembro de la Sinfónica, daba clases particulares a alumnos de Notre Dame y actuaba en su iglesia natal, Greater St. John's Baptist Church. Fue compositora, profesora y amante de la música. Falleció en 2017 a la edad de 95 años. Honramos sus contribuciones a la Orquesta Sinfónica de South Bend.

Invisible Player By Dr. Marvin V. Curtis

 In 1940, 19-year-old Rosemary Sanders became the first African American musician in the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and probably in America.  This project, Invisible Player, is designed to present the historical narrative of Rosemary Sanders and highlight the racial barriers African Americans face in American orchestras. The film uses Rosemary’s story as a jumping off point to explore where the American orchestral industry is today, how we got here, and possible paths forward.  

Sanders prepared for her audition with years of private study with South Bend’s concertmaster, the lead violinist of the Symphony. During high school, she traveled from South Bend, Indiana, to Chicago with her mother on the segregated South Shore train line to study as the only African American student at the Sherwood School of Music at Columbia College. Through the generosity of her family’s employer, Gertrude Oliver Cunningham, she was given a Stradivarius violin, one of the most prized string instruments in the world. Despite her obvious talent as a violinist, when she joined the South Bend Symphony, she was assigned to the last seat in the second violin section. The audience could not even see her. For the fifteen years she performed with the orchestra, her name was never listed in the program. She was never included in formal pictures of the orchestra. Her musical background and first-class instrument notwithstanding, she was never allowed to advance from the last seat, where she was invisible to the audience.  Upon her leaving the orchestra, the next African American member of the South Bend Symphony would not join until 1995, 32 years later.   

 With Rosemary excluded from orchestral history, records list Denver Symphony bassist Charles Burrell as the first African American player in an American orchestra in 1949.  The deliberate exclusion of Rosemary Sanders from the history of the South Bend Symphony is emblematic of racist policies of the Jim Crow era. Yet many these policies have persisted long past the formal end of Jim Crow, and have resulted in the continued racial disparity between African American players and white players. Even when included as members of American orchestras, many players find themselves to be “invisible” among their fellow musicians.  

In 2014, there were 1,224 orchestras in the US, and African Americans comprised just 1.8% of the players, based on data provided by the League of American Orchestras.  In 2024, there were roughly 2,000 orchestras in America, and the number of African American players had grown to 2.4%, while other racial groups, such as Latino/Hispanic players, expanded from 2.5% to 4.8%, and Asian players grew from 9.2% to 11%.     

The history of Rosemary Sanders and South Bend in Invisible Player will show why American orchestras have remained so out-of-step with the demographics of their communities. The film explores Sanders’ background and life in South Bend, her relationship with her benefactor, Gertrude Oliver Cunningham, her symphony experience, and how she dealt with the racial climate in the city after leaving the symphony. Her life story exemplifies the continuing lack of diversity in American orchestras. Our project covers topics such as the past and present racial challenges that African Americans face and have faced, including the lack of arts education in communities of color and its effects on the pipeline of potential players. I survey solutions that are being developed to address the problem. Orchestras still look much as they did when Rosemary Sanders was playing. Will things ever change?  

I am traveling the country looking for answers. I began working locally in the archives with the South Bend History Museum and the St. Joseph County Library. Working with the film team of videographer Ryan Blaske and director Chuck Fry and my co-producer Justus Zimmerman, we have recorded extensive interviews with Sanders’ daughter, Helen Binion-Ursey. We visited the Detroit Conference of the Sphinx Organization, whose mission is to address the systemic lack of access in classical music by Black and Latino communities, and interviewed many participants, including Aaron Dworkin, its founder.  Simon Woods, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, the 700-member service organization, sat for an interview at their Houston conference. Former Executive Director Lee Koonce and new Executive Director Alexander Laing of the African American Gateways Music Festival Orchestra gave their insight. Lee Pringle, the founder of The Colour of Music Festival of Charleston, South Carolina, outlined his distinctive views. Interviews are being scheduled and conducted with many African American players and managers who are navigating the current landscape and dealing with current challenges. All share their hopes and fears about the future. They are charting a course whereby American orchestras can reach their full, diverse potential.   

The story of Invisible Player will be told in a 90-minute film, with me serving as guide, narrator, and executive producer.  Since Sander’s history was not readily available, I researched her South Bend story using primary source materials provided by her daughter and Sander’s writings. Additional research has been conducted into the racial climate that led to the inclusion of African Americans in the five largest American orchestras. This complicated history focuses on the orchestral and musician union climate that left many of these players feeling invisible. I’ve had discussions with arts leaders concerning the role of arts education, access, and different schools of thought for diversifying the orchestral landscape. These discussions have yielded contentious viewpoints revolving around the fundamental conflict: should African American ensembles be self-sustaining, or should players pursue immersion into the orchestral landscape, or is there a compromise?  The South Bend Symphony will provide a musical soundtrack utilizing music Sanders would have performed, as well as works of African American composers. We have commissioned a new work by African American violinist and composer Jessica Carter of South Bend.   

Invisible Player seeks to expose an injustice, examine the rationale for that injustice, and offer solutions to create a more equitable and inclusive art form. This film tackles a subject with broad implications for the future. I anticipate very extensive dissemination of the film, beginning with its submission to film festivals. From there, it is designed for viewing everywhere high-quality documentaries are available. The film is designed to be a tool for American orchestras to acknowledge the past and make changes for a positive future. 

Viewpoint: Classically trained Rosemary Sanders of South Bend was the Invisible Player

Marvin Curtis

Published to the South Bend Tribune

The number of African Americans in American Symphony Orchestras continues to be dismal. Blame must be placed on the discriminatory practices of musician unions and concert halls that practiced segregation. Those African American composers who wrote in the classical style were overlooked and their music was not valued by white music critics and historians.

Most classically trained African American musicians were discouraged from pursuing a career with our American symphonies; however, a select few were able to break the color barrier, only to be subjected to segregation on concert tours, particularly in the South. History records the first African American to join an American orchestra was violinist Jack Bradley as a member of The Denver Symphony in 1946.

The South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s first African American member was Rosemary Sanders, who auditioned and was admitted in 1940. Born in Chicago in 1921, Sanders moved with her parents to South Bend at age 5. Her mother, Helen, worked as head of the household staff for Gertrude Oliver Cunningham (daughter of J.D. Oliver), who recognized Rosemary’s talent and bought her a Stradivarius violin. With no African American string teachers in South Bend at the time, Sanders studied privately with George Zigmont Gaskas, concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony and later founder and conductor of the Elkhart Symphony. She was also a student at the Sherwood Music School in Chicago, in high school and after graduation.

Sanders creció en la zona sureste de South Bend y asistió al instituto Riley entre 1935 y 1939. Fue la única estudiante afroamericana del centro y ejerció de secretaria/tesorera como miembro de la orquesta escolar.

Tocó en la Orquesta Sinfónica durante 20 años, sentada en la última fila de la sección de segundos violines. Pero su nombre nunca figuró en ningún programa. Aparece en la fotografía formal de la Sinfónica de 1943-1944, no sentada con los miembros de la orquesta, sino sentada detrás de la orquesta, mostrando sólo su cabeza. Actuó en una época en la que la segregación imperaba en South Bend y las instituciones culturales y sociales, hoteles y restaurantes de la ciudad no admitían afroamericanos.

Sanders daba clases particulares a alumnos de Notre Dame y actuaba en su iglesia natal, Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church. Fue compositora, profesora y amante de la música. Falleció en 2017 a los 95 años. Se casó con Graham Henry Sr. de Old Harbor Bay, Jamaica, Indias Occidentales. De este matrimonio sobreviven dos hijos, Graham M. Henry y Helen Ursery-Binion.

La falta de músicos afroamericanos en las orquestas estadounidenses está bien documentada. De las consideradas "Cinco Grandes" -por su historia y alcance-, la admisión de músicos afroamericanos es deprimente. La Orquesta de Cleveland, creada en 1918, contrató al violonchelista Donald White en 1957; la Filarmónica de Nueva York, creada en 1842, contrató al violinista Sanford Allen en 1962; la Orquesta de Filadelfia, creada en 1900, contrató al violinista Booker Rowe en 1968; la Sinfónica de Boston, creada en 1881, contrató a la arpista Ann Hobson en 1969; y la Sinfónica de Chicago, creada en 1891, contrató a su primer músico afroamericano, el trompetista Tage Larsen, en 2002.

According to the American Symphony Orchestra League, African Americans account for only 1.8 percent of the nation’s orchestra players in 2014, and that figure had not grown since. In 1995, The South Bend Symphony Orchestra hired its second African American player. She is bassist Diana Ford, who still performs today. The South Bend Symphony has had four African American players since then.

Nuestras instituciones culturales estadounidenses han perpetuado injusticias racistas en el pasado, pero la marea está cambiando. La equidad, la diversidad y la inclusión no se ven como una amenaza al statu quo, sino como una forma de sanar y educar a nuestra sociedad y de celebrar la riqueza de talento de nuestro país.

The South Bend Symphony Orchestra is celebrating Rosemary Sanders this year in their 90th anniversary program book. To continue the recognition, the History Museum will be unveiling a display about Sanders on June 13 as part of the African American Legacy Award Luncheon.

Qué bonito habría sido que Sanders hubiera sido reconocida en vida con sólo su nombre en el programa. La Orquesta Sinfónica de South Bend se está asegurando de que Rosemary Sanders deje de ser invisible y pase a ser celebrada por su talento y perseverancia.