Mattapan native, bassist Chris Johnson performs with Sphinx Virtuosi

Chamber orchestra brings its diverse musicians and repertoire to Worcester on March 30

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

Bassist Chris Johnson fell in love with music while growing up in Mattapan. Years of performing with Project STEP and NEC Prep honed Johnson’s skills and paved the way for his career as a professional musician. This month, Johnson returns to Massachusetts for a performance with Sphinx Virtuosi, an 18-member orchestra of Black and Latinx musicians focused on diversifying classical music.

Sphinx Virtuosi is just one ensemble within the larger Sphinx organization. Based in Detroit, the social justice-oriented nonprofit primarily focuses on music education and access, artistic development through competitions and arts leadership. It also runs several professional performance groups including Sphinx Virtuosi, the flagship ensemble.

In every arm of the organization, diversity and equity are priorities. Programs are designed to make education and performance opportunities, from student showcases to professional ensembles, accessible to folks of all backgrounds.

This structure resonates with Johnson, who had access to classes, performance opportunities and tours abroad in part due to Boston’s METCO program.

Sphinx Virtuosi is a Detroit-based, diversity focused chamber orchestra comprised of 18 Black and Latinx musicians. PHOTO: SCOTT JACKSON

Now, Johnson creates those opportunities and acts as that representation for a new generation. He was teaching at Four Strings Academy, a summer program developed by Project STEP, when he recognized the impact of his work. Young students coming in had witnessed Black representation everywhere from celebrity performers to the White House. And now, with Johnson, they were seeing that representation in classical music. It opened  the world of possibilities.

“Seeing is believing,” said Johnson. “One of the rarest things on this Earth is a Black male teacher. I’m happy to be a part of that for the kids.”

The Sphinx Virtuosi concert, “American Form/s,” co-presented by Music Worcester and the Prior Performing Arts Center at Holy Cross University, takes place on March 30 in the Luth Concert Hall at Prior Performing Arts Center. Tickets start at $39.

The diversity of the performance doesn’t end with the musicians on stage. The group will perform a selection of new works from composers of color, including “American Mirror: Part One,” by Derrick Skye, a quartet arrangement that reflects on the coming together of cultures, and “Serenade for Strings, mvt. IV Finale, Tempo di Marcia,” by Teresa Carreño.

“To have musicians that are familiar, folks that you can look up to and that look like you and sound like you and play like you, that’s a really great force,” said Bill Neri, violinist and manager of the Virtuosi ensemble. “I think this is a very unique performance played by incredible people.”

Sphinx Virtuosi commissions new works from Black and Latinx composers annually. In past years they’ve worked with composers like Michael Abels, Terence Blanchard, Valerie Coleman, Xavier Foley, Ricardo Herz among many others.

Johnson is particularly excited about performing “American Mirror,” which he describes as a universal arrangement that can appeal to a large group of people. The performance is also a welcome opportunity to revisit his native state.

“It’s always nice to visit,” he said of Boston and Massachusetts. “I hope this concert puts smiles on people’s faces. I hope they enjoy it.”