LaRob K. Rafael: Presenting Classical Music in Color

Our April 19th concert host, LaRob K. Rafael, is a prominent national voice for the advancement of classical music by minority composers and for minority audiences.

LaRob grew up in Temple Hills, MD, a small town about 15 miles south of Washington, DC. When asked if his family was musical, he laughed and said, “Everybody in my family could sing and if we had a dog, the dog could sing too!”

LaRob was raised in the church, where music was always the foundation. “For me growing up, it was the choir singing, it was the sermonic selections. From a very young age, maybe about five or six, I noticed how music could affect people, could make people feel things, could make people feel joy and comfort in the midst of everything that was going on. So that's always stuck with me and I was maybe even a little surprised when I got older that music outside of church did the same thing. It was listening to R&B and soul and jazz music that was really inspiring, to see how musicians and singers could use their voices and their words to say something that was powerful or emotional to someone who was listening.”

LaRob’s first exposure to classical music came from the typical source for a 1990s kid: Bugs Bunny and the musical opera on Saturday TV! “That was sort of my first real experience with classical music, but I didn't know what it was; I thought it was just the music that was in the cartoons!” He joined the choir in middle school; it was primarily a gospel choir, but the teacher had studied classical music. “He would teach us songs in Italian and Spanish, and I've always remembered thinking ‘Wow! These songs come together really nicely, and they make us sound really good’ – but again not really thinking it was ‘classical’ music.”

It was this same teacher who suggested LaRob apply for admission to Suitland High School for the Performing Arts in Suitland, MD. “I was getting immersed in classical music, and this was such an experience for me as a young kid because this was a predominantly Black high school with hundreds of Black and Brown teachers. I took voice lessons, and everything was just so fresh and new. And it was so exciting because I had classmates who were also learning this music, maybe studying it for the very first time, so everything just felt so fresh and exciting diving into this brand-new world of music by composers from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. That was really my first experience with opera and classical music and art song, and I just remember falling in love with it, especially choral music. Just the idea that we can make such beautiful sounds and still [keep] all of the music we grew up with and have this experience of also doing something that was ‘different’ was really exciting for me.”

When it came to college, LaRob applied to a number of music schools but wanted to go to the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where a lot of his friends were going.  But DePaul was also on his list. And DePaul kept calling him. His mother told him he should really think about Chicago, and he kept saying he didn’t know anything about Chicago. But she persisted. “She really encouraged me; she said, ‘You know, you never know what is out there for you if you don't try it out.’ So, I came to Chicago sight unseen. I had only been here for my audition to the school, which was also not really planned, and yes, I've stopped here. It's such a great city with so much music happening around, so many things to do, people to see, so I'm stuck here and I officially called Chicago home!”

At DePaul, LaRob immersed himself in classical music and burnished his bass-baritone voice, which led to international studies in Italy and Mexico and to leading operatic roles such as Pistola (Falstaff), Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), Colline (La Boheme), Giove (La Calisto), Thoas (Iphigenie en Tauride), Father/Vater (Hansel und Gretel). He’s also been a soloist in orchestral chamber works, including Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Mahler) and Soundscapes of Color (Dzitko). All in all, he’s extremely glad he had heeded his mother’s advice!

Despite these opportunities, however, LaRob was very aware of the focus of classical music on historical European composers, with little room given to Black and Brown composers of classical music – or to bringing classical music to Black and Brown audiences. To address this imbalance, LaRob founded Hearing in Color in 2017; its website describes it as a Chicago-based nonprofit that designs and produces community-centered music programs that amplify historically excluded composers and performers. … Hearing in Color emerged from a need in Chicago for a performance outlet devoted to classical music by people of color. “I really wanted this space for artists of color to feel like their music should be celebrated and amplified without caveats, and we're able to do that. We have collaborations that partner with the Music Institute of Chicago, with Decomposed and others, and just started a professional chamber vocal ensemble called Chroma; really exciting things are happening through this organization. It's beyond what I even dreamed it to be, and I'm just really excited for where we may go in the future”

LaRob’s work as an arts administrator and with Hearting in Color led to a meeting WFMT and a job offer. He joined the WFMT announcing staff in 2020 as a fill-in host and, in the fall of 2021 became WFMT’s full-time weekend morning host of Sounds Classical producer with Kristina Lynn. “It was such a great experience to be able to create a weekly program for people to feel engaged with something beyond just the pretty music, to tell stories through the music that I played, bringing people into this world that they just may have heard in passing. It was really important to me that I highlighted music by Black and Brown composers and that I played music that people maybe even questioned if it was classical; I thought it important that we could have that discussion over the airwaves.”

LaRob left WFMT about a year ago and since last May has been Director of Composer Advancement with the American Composers Orchestra, an organization dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. Over more than 40 years committed to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO has blossomed into a national institution that cultivates and develops the careers of living composers, providing a direct pipeline to meaningful partnerships with orchestras across the country. ”The ACO is based in New York,” LaRob says, “but I'm still here in Chicago!” – for which we are all extremely grateful!