CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) — While most Charlotteans were covered in snow this past weekend, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Music Director Kwame Ryan was in Los Angeles making history.
Ryan won his first Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Jake Heggie’s “Intelligence,” which was recorded with the Houston Grand Opera. He is the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s first music director to win music’s top award.
Ryan won the award on the first day of Black History Month.
“I’d be happy if I could be a role model for Black girls and boys who are interested in classical music, because it isn’t a field where there are a lot of high-profile black artists,” Ryan said.
Early inspiration leads to full circle moment
Ryan’s path to conducting began in 1977 when his parents took him and his sister to Toronto for the summer. They attended a performance of “Porgy and Bess” at Ontario Place.
“At the end of that performance, I leaned over to my mom, and I said, Mom, I want to do what the guy in the middle is doing, and that was the conductor,” Ryan said. “I didn’t even know what the job was called. I didn’t know what he was doing; it seemed magical to me, and that was the spark.”
Ryan recently discovered that the 1977 performance was by the Houston Grand Opera, the same opera house with which he won his Grammy.
Addressing representation in classical music
Ryan spoke about the lack of exposure children of color have to classical music and how he hopes to change that.
“In the field of sports, that exposure is very common, and it’s actually very easy to attain. You switch on the TV, and you can see any number of great Black athletes doing their thing and excelling,” Ryan said. “If you want to see a great Black classical artist, a classical musician, you have to really go and find them, because we’re not going to be on TV the way that sports people are. And that’s why you know an award like this that really gets broad exposure is incredibly significant.”
Grammy night reaction
Ryan described his reaction when his name was called at the Grammy Awards.
“So as hopeful as I was, I kind of started resigning myself to the fact that everybody was deserving in that category and that we might not win it,” Ryan said. “But between the words and the Grammy goes to Heggie Intelligence, my heart skipped two beats. I really stopped breathing. And then there’s just a burst of disbelief first and joy and excitement.”
Ryan said the recognition will change how he is perceived in a positive way.
When asked about his next goals, Ryan said he doesn’t feel like he has been climbing mountains.
“I feel like I’ve been doing something that I love, something I wanted to do since I was a child,” Ryan said.
Ryan and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra will perform on Friday and Saturday at the Belk Theatre. Ryan said the program will be a celebration, and they hope all of Charlotte will come out to celebrate with them.
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