Brian Anderson(@BrianAcity):Boston Symphony CEO Chad Smith said the orchestra, which recently parted ways with its brilliant and popular conductor Andris Nelsons, must serve communities “more expansively and inclusively” and think differently about “whose voices get to be heard, whose stories get to be told.” In her latest essay, @HMDatMI rejects that woke conceit with characteristic ferocity. “If a listener needs to see himself ‘reflected,’ it would be more efficient to take a selfie than to attend a performance of a Mozart piano concerto,” she writes. One listens to Mozart “to lose oneself in a bygone world of grandeur and beauty.” Down with phony inclusivity, she argues

2026.11.08 21:56

Boston Symphony CEO Chad Smith said the orchestra, which recently parted ways with its brilliant and popular conductor Andris Nelsons, must serve communities “more expansively and inclusively” and think differently about “whose voices get to be heard, whose stories get to be told.” In her latest essay, @HMDatMI rejects that woke conceit with characteristic ferocity. “If a listener needs to see himself ‘reflected,’ it would be more efficient to take a selfie than to attend a performance of a Mozart piano concerto,” she writes. One listens to Mozart “to lose oneself in a bygone world of grandeur and beauty.” Down with phony inclusivity, she argues—and up with transcendent art.