One Conductor’s Mission to Diversify Music in “The Orchestra Chuck Built”

Chuck Dickerson, the founder and director of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, is on a mission. “American orchestras are not a very diverse place,” he says. “African American musicians make up only 2.4 per cent of the American orchestra workforce. We are seeking to improve that.” In “The Orchestra Chuck Built,” directed by Christopher Stoudt, we see Dickerson and his players, the members of the country’s largest Black orchestra, preparing for their season-finale concert. The students describe the feelings of accomplishment and community that come from honing their craft together. The intimate, sonically rich documentary shows the students practicing individually, joking about which instrument is best, and describing what music means to them. We see them working closely with Dickerson—whose voice is an instrument itself—as he issues instructions at the pitch of the notes he’s telling his players to hit. When they get it right, you can hear it and see it on the director’s face; he breaks into a wide grin.