Orchestra Noir, an All-Black Orchestra, is Making a Stop in North Texas

Orchestra Noir is bringing their one-of-a-kind show to North Texas making their own headlines on their journey.

According to the League of American Orchestras, Black maestros only make up 1.8% of conductors nationally. Maestro Jason Ikeem Rodgers is one of them. He founded Orchestra Noir in 2016.

“It's really cool because I, you know, I love the arts and I think what's really important with the arts is that we show people of color that there is a place for us there,” Rodgers said.

Through orchestral performance, Orchestra Noir celebrates the cultural achievements of African American music pioneers across all genres of music including classical, jazz, blues, hip-hop and R&B.

“Being in classical music and coming from North Philadelphia from public housing and knowing that I made it through the whole journey and now I'm presenting it to people of color and inspiring kids too, its awesome,” Rodgers said.

The orchestra, based in Atlanta, GA, has become so popular that several artists have wanted to collaborate. Rapper Rick Ross is one of them.

“It's interesting because in the music industry, you know, we have the rappers and singers, they sort of get what a producer and it produces a beat and those beats are, you know, they're composed of strings and guitars and drum. Then you talk about the live version of that, so these rappers and musicians, they're like, whoa, wait, I can perform with the actual instruments, a big string section with horns and like sign me up,” Rodgers said.

He said the audience can expect much more than just a show, but an experience.

“We cover the whole spectrum and it’s really cool to see hip hop and R&B orchestrated. Seeing it is wonderful to see these black musicians up there doing this symphonic music and doing it their way. I think people are going to take that from the performance,” Rodgers said.

Orchestra Noir is making a stop in Downtown Dallas on Saturday, March 11 at the Majestic.