Kids Meet the Music 3 with D-Composed + Robyn Smith

ABOUT D-COMPOSED 

Historians of art and culture may not currently take into full account that Black culture and creativity are a part of every musical institution's foundation that we currently see today. D-Composed, a Black chamber music collective, exists to ensure that we never forget it. 

Led by their mission to uplift and empower society through the music of Black composers, this Chicago-based creative incubator acts as a bridge between the past and present to the future of representation, music-centered experiences, and the communal power of Black composers and their impact. 

Music is not just solely entertainment, for this collective music is a storytelling tool that educates and inspires. Unapologetically, Blackness is at the core of their experience, with protecting, nurturing, and sustaining on the other side. In the middle lies their impact — the people who make up these experiences, whether as musicians, creatives, or community members. 

As a Black ensemble that focuses exclusively on the works of Black composers, D-Composed ensures to partner with institutions that have a proven commitment to communities of color. They have collaborated with Apple, Theaster Gates’s Rebuild Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, The Kennedy Center, Kaufman Music Center, and TEDx. While merging the worlds of contemporary music and classical, they have also collaborated with Jamila Woods during her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper.

The walls that exist to keep Black people out of America’s most beloved cultural institutions are meant to be scaled and then dismantled by the creative architects who are bold enough to build against the status quo. 

The meaning of the collective’s name embodies that boldness in action.

D–COMPOSED /DEE-KUHM-POHZD/ – ADVERB: Our creative process that involves the breaking down of preconceived notions, barriers, and opinions of what people think classical music should be, to rewriting our own narrative to reflect what the classical world could be. 

About Robyn Smyth

Robyn Smith is the Principal Trombonist of the Chicago Sinfonietta and Adjunct Professor of Trombone at the University of Illinois Chicago. She has most recently performed as a substitute musician with the San Francisco Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Boston Pops, and has toured internationally with the Boston Symphony.

Robyn has been featured as a guest artist at the International Trombone Festival, American Trombone Workshop, Brass Beyond Binaries Retreat, Ithaca College, and Georgia State University. Her wide-ranging performance experience includes the Detroit Jazz Festival with the Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band, performing with Lizzo at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and national tours with Noah Kahan and Jeezy.

An internationally recognized trombonist, Robyn was the winner of the 2018 International Trombone Association Marsteller Solo Competition and the 2017 ITA Quartet Competition with the quartet Boston Based.

Beyond her performance career, Robyn is a passionate advocate for greater representation and equity in the classical music world. She works to dismantle oppressive structures that contribute to the underrepresentation of Black and Brown musicians in high art forms and mentors young students pursuing careers as professional musicians in various programs across the country.