I’m at this program at the Chicago Symphony right now [link] (and it is actually fucking great).
Neat!
Cincinnati Symphony has a diversity fellowship, where each year they pick I think four or five musicians from underrepresented groups, and they get a scholarship to get a master's degree at the university while also playing with the orchestra. They also have programs with local public schools. Plus, a youth orchestra program for local kids from underrepresented groups, where kids who get accepted (they have to audition, after taking private lessons for a year, so that's already a bar to a lot of kids) are part of a youth orchestra, and also get individual coaching and workshops and things like that.
They've got a long-running program where the orchestra partners with Black church choirs from around the city -- the orchestra plays at the churches a couple times a year, but the big event from that is when the choirs, plus dance groups and other things like that, all come together to perform with the orchestra at the Music Hall.
During the summer, they have neighborhood block parties -- free parties in low-income neighborhoods around the city, with food and face-painting and all that stuff, where the full orchestra performs a mix of classical and pop music. They also bring instruments for kids to try out and learn about, and distribute all the info about all the different kids' programs they have. They also have certain performances designated as pay-what-you-can.
They've got a Harlem Renaissance program this week. Last month, they had Beethoven x Beyonce.