Urban Classical Music as Cultural Testimony

I am a French Hornist, Composer, and Educator. My work lives at the intersection of European classical tradition and African American cultural expression, a space I call Urban Classical Music. This music is not a hybrid or compromise; it is a reclamation. It draws from the harmonic rigor of Western art music and the rhythmic vitality, emotional depth, and communal spirit of Black American life. It is shaped by the pulse of my urban upbringing and the stories that surround me.

I believe American music is not a melting pot, it’s a mosaic. Each tile, from European counterpoint to gospel harmony, from jazz improvisation to hip-hop flow, contributes to a national sound that is complex, resilient, and unfinished. My mission is to expand the scope of American music theory and composition, challenging the narrow frameworks that have historically excluded Black voices and urban experience. I aim to build systems, pedagogical, performative, and communal, that reflect the full richness of our cultural inheritance.

As an educator, I invite students and performers to hear themselves in the canon. I want them to see their stories, their neighborhoods, their ancestors reflected in the concert hall. I want audiences to feel the urgency and beauty of music that speaks from lived experience. My work is not just sound, it is testimony. It is a way of saying, "We were here, we are here, and we have something to say".