VIDEO: The Broadway Sinfonietta Launches Today With Virtual Performance Featuring Solea Pfeiffer

The Broadway Sinfonietta, a trailblazing new all-female orchestra founded by Egyptian-American Orchestrator and Music Director Macy Schmidt, launches today with an orchestral performance of "You're Gonna Hear From Me," featuring 18 musicians (the majority of whom are women of color), with vocals from Broadway star Solea Pfeiffer.

This new orchestra collective, which will feature a growing roster of players, hopes to increase the visibility and support the existence, excellence, and equity of female BIPOC musicians, orchestrators, and contractors in the Broadway industry.

Watch the video!

The statistics speak for themselves:

In the past 20 years, out of roughly 190 orchestrators on Broadway, only 3.7% have been women, and 0% have been BIPOC women. 5.8% were BIPOC men, and the other 90.5% were white men.

Music contractors hire the pit musicians on Broadway; there have only been two female contractors in history, and there has never been a woman of color contractor on Broadway.

Until 2013, no woman had ever won the Tony Award for Best Score without a male writing partner. In 2019, Hadestown became only the third Broadway score in history written without a man to win the Tony Award. Kinky Boots (2013) and Fun Home (2015) were the first two.

"While the Broadway industry has made small (but mighty!) strides in recent years for white female and male POC musicians, the same cannot be said for women of color. I was too often the only woman of color in these spaces, and I'd find myself wondering why that was." Schmidt said. "I founded The Broadway Sinfonietta to showcase the many amazing musicians who are women of color, to prove there's no room for excuses or "token" or "diversity" hires. The women in this group are spectacular artists who should be hired because they are highly skilled and qualified. My hope is that, through the Broadway Sinfonietta, we might finally see the demographics of Broadway orchestra pits and music departments change for the better."

While The Broadway Sinfonietta will have a rotating roster of female musicians, the debut music video, "You're Gonna Hear From Me," arranged and orchestrated by Schmidt, features vocals from Pfeiffer along with 15 BIPOC and 3 white female musicians. Among them, they have 23+ Broadway show credits and have played with musicians including Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Diana Ross, Jay-Z, Kanye West, John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Whitney Houston, Carole King, Adele and many more. The full list of musicians includes: Julia Adamy (bass), Tomoko Akaboshi (violin), Adrienne Baker (flute/piccolo), Patricia Billings (clarinet), Elena Bonomo (drums), Jackie Coleman (trumpet), Nicole DeMaio (bass clarinet), Hitomi Garcia (trombone), Marika Hughes (cello), Maria Im (viola), Sara Jacovino (trombone), Lady Jess (violin), Coresia Janelle Lee (flute), Kyra Sims (french horn), Elizabeth Steiner (harp), Lessie Vonner (trumpet) and Yuri Yamashita (percussion).

The video was recorded last month at Virtue & Vice Studios in NYC, with a COVID safety coordinator and all musicians and crew members were COVID-tested before filming. The project is generously supported by Jana Shea, Daryl Roth and Mary E. Furse, with SheNYCArts serving as a nonprofit sponsor. Additional credits include: Music Contractors: Macy Schmidt & Tomoko Akaboshi; Music Producers: Macy Schmidt & Emily Marshall; Mixing: Marián Gómez Villota; Mastering: Jett Galindo; Marketing Director and Graphic Designer: Leah Vicencio; Creative Director and Videographer: Em Char Productions; Video Editor: Joshua Greene; Assistant Camera Operator: Brooke Wood. Click here watch the video, or to donate to The Broadway Sinfonietta via SheNYC Arts, visit shenycarts.org/sinfonietta.