Keynote Speech – Breaking the Sound Barrier: a Case for a More Diverse Tomorrow

Afa S Dworkin (President and Artistic Director, Sphinx Organization)

Kennedy Center’s Human Spirit Award recipient, Musical America’s Top 30 Influencers and Detroit Crain’s 40 Under 40, Afa S. Dworkin is a musical thought leader and cross-sector strategist driving national programming that promotes diversity in classical music. She serves as President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, the nation’s leading organization transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts.  In this role, she architected and built Sphinx’s programming since its inception, which included creating more than 100 partnerships worldwide. A frequent speaker and writer on the topics of racial equity in the arts, Ms. Dworkin has been a contributing writer to the New York Times, Strings Magazine, and a speaker for the League of American Orchestras, Chamber Music America, National Association for Schools of Music, and ICSOM, among others.  A trained violinist, she is on faculty at Roosevelt University for their Master’s in Administration program.