OUR VISION
Presenting stories grounded in truth.
Hearing in Color is a Chicago-based nonprofit that centers community as the source and future of classical music. What began as informal coffee shop recitals among friends has grown into a community-rooted space, where artists are the culture bearers and amplifiers of their own stories through music.
Founded by LaRob K. Rafael, Hearing in Color emerged from a seeming gap in Chicago for a performance outlet devoted to classical music from people of color. Too often, traditional classical music spaces impose a singular cultural framework onto communities already rich in musical traditions and histories. Hearing in Color exists to shift that narrative, illuminating how community engagement has always been the driving force behind creative music-making.
We practice radical acceptance and collective care that actively subverts the gatekeeping structures that have long defined White-led, Euro-centered music organizations. Our work is grounded in the belief that equity begins at the redistribution of systemic power, allowing those who have been historically misrepresented to define the space. And that by uplifting those voices, we are able to present stories grounded in truth.
We began as a response to the persistent lack of representation in classical music
OUR STORY
Since our founding in 2017, Hearing in Color has continually evolved in response to both the needs of artists and the realities of the world around us. From the outset, our mission has been to create and share platforms with composers, performers, and storytellers whose cultures and contributions have been marginalized within traditional institutions.
Our concerts and programs are led, performed, and programmed by artists from the communities represented onstage. We uplift the work of Black and Brown composers as a re-centering of whose voices define the art form in the 21st-century, rather than as a corrective footnote to an existing narrative.
This bold endeavor is rooted in reinvention: redefining capacity, partnership, and sustainability through community leadership and cultural truth. Hearing in Color is working toward a more equitable and honest arts ecosystem.
We reimagined
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted live performance coincided with a national reckoning around racial injustice, Hearing in Color prioritized engagement and amplification. We reimagined our programs in real time, to create virtual, conversational, and community-responsive productions to center artists as cultural and social leaders.
In September 2020, we presented Good, Necessary Trouble, a live virtual concert and dialogue that explored protest music as a catalyst for change, directly engaging with the uprisings and calls for justice unfolding across the country in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In January 2021, Kababayan followed—a live-hosted virtual variety show celebrating Filipino identity through music, storytelling, and interdisciplinary art. In June 2022, we collaborated with Latinx community organizers to produce a virtual mini-doc and performance exploring the term “Latinidad” and the challenges of encompassing many people into one word. La gente y la musica helped showcase the layered identities within a global culture.
These programs affirm the strength of our growing community and demonstrate that audiences are ready to engage, reflect, and support work rooted in their lived experience.
and rebuilt
Since returning to in-person performance, Hearing in Color has expanded its programming to more deeply invest in artist development, long-term relationships, and community-led creation. Our initiatives now include a Young Composer Residency that provides emerging composers with mentorship, commissioning opportunities, and professional platforming; Chroma, a resident chamber vocal ensemble dedicated to amplifying the voices of the global majority; and productions that are organized in collaboration with community partners, faith spaces, and cultural organizations across Chicago.
Hearing in Color continues to prioritize sustainability without compromise—ensuring artists are paid equitably, access is built into every production, and community remains at the center of decision-making. Our work resists extractive models of presentation and instead invests in trust, time, and shared ownership. We are not interested in simply diversifying existing systems: we are committed to building new ones where classical music is accountable to the people and cultures from which it comes.
meet the team
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LaRob K. Rafael
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Terry Henderson
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Megan Fletcher
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Joseph Tang
YOUNG COMPOSERS-IN-RESIDENCE
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Abisola Toukourou
2025/26
Young Composer-in-Residence -
Madeline Clara Cheng
2024/25
Young Composer-in-Residence -
Nyandeng Juag
2023/24
Young Composer-in-Residence -
Ephraim Champion
2022/23
Young Composer-in-Residence -
Gwen Maramba
2021/22
Young Composer-in-Residence
NEWS & MEDIA
read what’s new WITH HEARING IN COLOR
