ASO should hit pause on its concerts

So, in the Albany Symphony Orchestra’s 90-plusyear history, it’s never had a single Black official member. Not one. The Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony had Black members in the 1940s; the Cleveland Orchestra had a Black member in the 1950s; the New York Philharmonic and the Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Boston symphonies all had Black members in the 1960s.

Now, in 2022, the ASO’s music director acknowledges that this situation is not acceptable and explains that its new task force is “aggressively doing a great number of things to make our institution more progressive.”

This all rings quite hollow. If the orchestra truly believes it is “not acceptable” for it to lack any Black official members, then it should not play any more concerts until it has “aggressively” changed this situation. Or is their maestro willing to continue performing under unacceptable conditions?

Ben Givan Saratoga Springs

Lori Van Buren / Times Union Conductor David Alan Miller and Anna Kuwabara, the executive director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.