Crystal Sellers Battle came to the Eastman School in 2022 as the first director of the George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion in Music. She has many roles at the school: she is also associate dean of Equity and Inclusion and professor of Music Leadership.
“Yes, all of that is on my business card in .5 font,” she laughs.
This Wednesday, Sept. 18, she gets to add one more feather in her cap as the first performer in the brand-new George Walker Center Recital Series with a set list comprised entirely of music written by, or for, African Americans.
Though the series is a new venture, she sees it as part of a long legacy of Black musicians in Rochester. She notes, for instance, that the series’ namesake George Walker was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who earned both his DMA and an honorary doctorate from the Eastman School.
Many of the selections on her recital were also written for legendary soprano Leontyne Price. Price’s former husband, baritone William Warfield, grew up in Rochester. His legacy has been memorialized with a statue at the Eastman School, and a scholarship in his name supports the studies of African American students there as well.
Sellers Battle already sees energy building around this recital, and it has rather taken her by surprise. Though she has advanced degrees in music, she is open about her struggles with imposter syndrome at an institution such as Eastman where so many world-renowned singers teach and perform. Even so, she is excited to see the interest in her series and hopes to bring together crowds ranging from novice listeners to aficionados.
The series will include two more recitals in October: one, a Hispanic Heritage Month recital, and the other a collaboration with the Gateways Festival. In the spring semester, audiences can also expect to celebrate Black History Month and to honor musicians who identify as LGBTQ+.
Sellers Battle looks forward seeing the fruits of her labor in many arenas. She says, “while the real seeds of equity and inclusion work … are planted today and may not come to fruition until after I’m gone, it’s still just as vital to have those seeds planted, because there are little sprouts you see along the way.” Whether it is students finding community, audiences discovering quality music, or overlooked musicians finally getting their due, she works tirelessly to make people feel loved, heard, respected, and wanted.
Such high aspirations may sound like a lot, but she boils it down to one simple phrase: “I just have to stay Black and love people.”
