“Ovation Concerts was founded by Burt Mason. Mr. Mason 
is an active classical musician performing with several orchestras and world-class ensembles. He has recognized the glaring disparity and under representation of minorities through his extensive performing experience both within the United States and abroad. Through Ovations Concerts Mr. Mason aims at making an immediate and lasting impact on the demographics within classical music and more specifically the ethnic landscape of the symphony orchestra.” http://www.ovationconcerts.org Ovation Concerts is a new project founded by Burt Mason, which has been formed to immediately impact the representation of minorities in orchestral music. It endeavors to provide unique and meaningful arts programming for children and adults, educate audiences and artists alike. “Most African American homes do not as a habit listen to classical music. They haven’t been shown the possibility and also they don’t see role models. That is something that has infuriated me — I was going to say ‘irked,’ but it’s not ‘irked’ — it’s infuriated me…Julius Watkins was one of the greatest French Horn players I have ever met in my entire life. But he was black, so he couldn’t get a hearing at the New York Philharmonic.”
Through a series of visiting initiatives into schools and universities the large volume of works by black classical composers which have been excluded from the curriculum of traditional music history courses across the country will be brought to light through performance and in-depth discussions.
