For 25 years, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots Celebration has served as both a tribute and a testament to the transformative power of Black artistry in classical music. What began as a single concert at Detroit’s historic Bethel AME Church in 1978 has grown into a cornerstone of cultural and artistic expression. Since 1981, Orchestra Hall has been the home of this enduring event, which uplifts African American composers, musicians, educators, and community leaders while raising vital funds for the DSO’s African American music and musician development programs.
This year’s silver anniversary celebration will honor trombonist Kenneth Thompkins, who served as Principal Trombone with the DSO from 1997 to 2024. A musician, educator, and mentor. His recognition at this year’s gala reflects a career rooted in both artistic mastery and a deep commitment to equity. “When I began my position as principal trombonist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, my goals were to play well and make contributions towards making the organization better,” Thompkins said. “Being honored means to me that to some degree I have been successful in achieving my goals.” That success has been hard-won, not only in performance but in service. Over the past 25 years, Thompkins has helped cultivate generations of young musicians through the DSO’s African American Fellowship Program and beyond, modeling what it means to both play and uplift.
In a return to the Orchestra Hall stage, Thompkins will perform Carlos Simon’s “Troubled Water,” a work he helped inspire. During the pandemic, frequent walks along the Detroit riverfront led him to rediscover the Gateway to Freedom monument, a stirring sculpture by Ed Dwight honoring enslaved Africans seeking freedom across the river in Canada. “Even though I had walked by this monument many times in the past, that day I took in the expressiveness of the figures,” he recalled. Moved by their determination and weariness, Thompkins proposed a musical tribute to composer Carlos Simon. The result is a piece “full of color and imagery that is a musical reflection on the Black experience in America.” Originally premiered by Thompkins in 2023, “Troubled Water” has become a symbolic centerpiece of this year’s Classical Roots concert program.
Beyond the stage, Thompkins has long championed mentorship and the music of Black composers. His early exposure to the Columbia Records Black Composers Series introduced him to the works of George Walker, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, William Grant Still, and Adolphus Hailstork, among others. That awareness shaped his career and sense of mission. “When I commission or perform and record the works of Black composers it is my contribution towards this legacy of documenting the brilliance of these musicians,” he said. As he sees it, audiences should hear these voices not as a niche offering, but as essential to the American musical canon. “Supporting these great composers who are producing wonderful compositions that often reflect Black musical themes and subject matter should be a given,” he added. “The question should be why isn’t there more support?”
Despite the progress marked by events like Classical Roots, Thompkins is clear-eyed about the work that remains. “The biggest change that I have seen in the Classical Music industry over the past 30 years has been the proliferation of Orchestra Fellowship Programs for musicians of color,” he said. Yet he points out that these programs have not translated into significant hiring gains. “For an orchestra to have a Fellowship Program for over thirty years and only hired two Black musicians is a questionable success rate.” He calls for meaningful reform in audition practices, including fully screened auditions and the elimination of “no hire” outcomes and biased “trial weeks.”
Now an Associate Professor of Trombone at Michigan State University, Thompkins continues to mold the next generation, embodying the very essence of Classical Roots. His latest recording, Compelling Portraits, features works by contemporary Black composers such as James Lee III and Shawn Okpebholo, extending his legacy of amplification and advocacy. With the gala concert approaching its 50th anniversary in 2028, Classical Roots remains more than a celebration. It is a call to listen, to invest, and to remember that classical music, like all great art, must reflect the full breadth of the human experience. And Thompkins, with horn in hand and purpose in heart, has helped ensure that it does.
This year’s Classical Roots Celebration will also recognize the many past Steering Committee co-chairs whose vision and leadership have helped guide the program’s evolution. Chetrice Gillon, a community innovator and founder of the Making It Happen Foundation, will receive the Marlowe Stoudamire Award for Innovation and Community Collaboration, highlighting the celebration’s commitment to honoring leaders across disciplines.
In addition to the gala dinner and concert, the DSO has launched a multi-year interactive exhibition tracing the full arc of Classical Roots, from its beginnings in Detroit’s Black churches to its current stature as a national model of inclusion in the arts. On display at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center through 2028, the exhibit uses immersive storytelling, historic images, artifacts, and oral histories to guide visitors through five decades of Black excellence in classical music. It is both a retrospective and an invitation to reflect, to honor, and to continue building on what has been created.
Tickets for the March 7 Classical Roots Celebration Gala and concert are available now at dso.org/classicalroots. With a legacy of honoring Black excellence in classical music and a program that continues to deepen its cultural impact, this year’s milestone event offers both a reflection on the past and an investment in the future.
