Born out of the love for music, this Mansfield orchestra has become a melting pot
Derin Lawal spent the last two years in the Peace Corps and came back to the Dallas-Fort Worth in June looking to reconnect with his love of music.
Lawal, who now lives in Cedar Hill, played clarinet at McKinney High School and studied music technology at New York University. He wanted to be part of a community and part of something greater than himself while playing music.
Most orchestras are not diverse and this discourages many musicians of color like Lawal, who is Black, from participating, he said. According to the League of American Orchestras, 78.6% of musicians in orchestras are white, 11.7% are Asian, 4.6% are Hispanic and 2.3% are Black.
Then Lawal came across Mansfield Philharmonic. After his audition, he stepped into rehearsals and saw not only an inclusive environment but also a warm and affirming atmosphere, and the community he was looking for.
The benefits of learning how to read music and play an instrument can benefit children and help their creativity and build community, Lawal says.
“It’s discouraging when there’s nobody else who looks like you, it’s definitely not fun being the odd person out in any space,” Lawal said. “So I think if there’s more people of color in these spaces, it’d be more of an encouragement to have Black youth explore more of their musical interest.”
Mansfield Philharmonic is a full symphonic orchestra born out of the love for music. It has developed into a melting pot of ethnicities and experiences, where an estimated one-third of the members are minorities.
It was established in 2017 when Thao Pham and Fletcher Rudd were a part of an orchestra called Keenee Camerata, which rehearsed in Mansfield. The two decided to leave and create their own orchestra, called Next Gen Chamber Players. They rebranded to Mansfield Philharmonic in 2018.
Around the same time Mansfield school district started a strings program and reached out to Pham, a violinist and a teacher, to teach the string players. This brought orchestra teachers and students from the school district to perform with Mansfield Philharmonic.
Musicians’ best memories are when they were in orchestra class, Pham said, because the social aspect of learning with others brings people together.
“I think once you learn music it’s like learning another language,” Pham said.
Mansfield Philharmonic’s concert
Inside of First Methodist Mansfield, a glass stained window surrounded by organ pipes overlooks Mansfield Philharmonic practicing for its upcoming concert.
Eldred Marshall stands in front of more than 60 musicians, head bowed to the music sheet, arms and hands twisting and contorting while the string and wind musicians follow his lead.
Marshall has been the artistic director and conductor of Mansfield Philharmonic since 2018.
He and the other co-founders did not set out to make the orchestra so diverse. Their diversity has come through word of mouth and orchestra’s members creating a pipeline for new members, Marshall said. It has made it easier to keep Black and Hispanic musicians when they see people who look like them playing in their orchestra, Marshall added.
“Everybody has some capability or some ability to produce or play an instrument of some sort,” Marshall said. “Not everybody’s meant to play the piano, not everybody’s meant to play the ukulele but if there’s an instrument that catches your imagination, take it up and try it cause no one is ever too old to learn an instrument.”
The Mansfield Philharmonic’s “Giving Thanks to God” concert is at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, at First Methodist Mansfield, 777 N. Walnut Creek Dr. Admission is free.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 3:03 PM.
