Photo: Black String Triage Ensemble - Instagram
The Black String Triage Ensemble
The Black String Triage Ensemble
A reader of the Shepherd Express heard the Black String Triage Ensemble (BSTE) play at their annual open rehearsal in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee. She was moved and suggested to the editor, Dave Luhrssen, that the paper might like to write an article on them. The Shepherd did publish an article by Paul Masterson about the BSTE on 7/14/20. (Some of the initial information below is taken from his article.) This is an update.
The leader of BSTE is Dayvin Hallmon, a veteran advocate for social justice as well as a classically trained musician. He moved to Milwaukee four years ago from Kenosha County where he had served for a decade as a county supervisor. In part, he was frustrated by the community’s resistance to addressing racism and the social justice initiatives he proposed. Nothing was happening.
In May 2019, he founded the Black String Triage Ensemble, a string orchestra comprised of Black and Latinx musicians as a “spiritual and emotional medicine for people of color in the aftermath of tragedy.”
The BSTE and Hallmon’s response has grown in both depth and breadth in the last two years. The Ensemble is now on call most weekends during the summer to play at the scene of community violence. Their goals are multifold—to provide comfort to those immediately impacted by violence, to defuse confrontation, “And prevent the hardening of our humanity.” They are careful to assess the situation to ensure that they don’t become part of the problem. The police have expressed their gratitude for their presence and continuing work.
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Their musical program is “organized around the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.” Hallmon has added a sixth stage: faith, noting that “Faith is symbolic of the belief we as humans must have to move forward in our daily lives.” The music is selected with that in mind drawing from all genres. The composers are intentionally Black and Latin, affirming their value, inspiring those present, while indicating a path out of violence. Their purpose is to “transform the public space into a place of recovery, healing, and hope for the community.”
His musical “fighting force” now has two additional “battalions.”
The Black Diaspora Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra open to all races ages 14 and up. The musicians are students, community members, and professionals. They perform compositions predominately by Black and Latinx composers, hoping that the exposure of this music to a wider audience will result in a more equitable placement of minority music on symphonic programs. All BDSO concerts are rooted in the life experiences of people of color. At the end of every year, the BDSO holds their Annual Memorial Concert for Missing and Departed Children. This year the concert will be Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, 4 p.m., at the Central United Methodist Church on Wisconsin Avenue and 25th Street.
The Legion of the Soul is a sister string orchestra to The Black String Triage Ensemble. Members of The Legion of the Soul are adult string players who are not minority. They sometimes accompany The Black String Triage Ensemble and occasionally assist playing at crime scenes.
