On the Right Track

By Janaya Greene

In just two years, the National Alliance for Audition Support, which aims to increase the numbers of Black and Latinx musicians at orchestras, is making an impact. Through the initiative, more Black and Latinx musicians are taking more auditions—and winning positions at orchestras nationwide. While work to address the underrepresentation of musicians of color at orchestras is far from done, the National Alliance for Audition Support is helping to move things forward, with real-world results.

When Bill Neri began playing the viola at age seven in hopes of being a little bit more like his older sister, who also played the viola, he didn’t expect the instrument to put him on a path of performances across the world in his adult life, or that the instrument would introduce him to the National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS), an initiative with a mission of increasing the number of Black and Latinx musicians—a mission that could redefine classical music nationwide.