Indigo Girls, robocalls, diversity in our orchestras

Indigo Girls -- no “the” -- have been hits since their first release in 1985. One of the most successful and influential Georgia-formed groups, the folk rock pair have gone platinum and won a Grammy, too. They have a show tonight, Sept. 27, at Atlanta Symphony Hall with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. We revisit an interview with one half of the group, Amy Ray.

Atlanta gets more robocalls than any other city in the United States. If that’s not bad enough, in August the city broke its own record for the number of times mass marketers, pre-recorded commercial pests, pleaders, and politicians annoyed people via phone in one month. On top of that, Hurricane Irma only made this problem worse. Maureen Mahoney, Public Policy Fellow at Consumers Union joins us.

American orchestras have a diversity problem. People of color make up only about four percent of the musicians in U.S. symphonies. The Atlanta Music Project is looking to change that. They provide free instruments and lessons to underserved kids in southwest Atlanta, in the hopes of getting them interested in classical music careers. We talk with Dantes Rameau, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Atlanta Music Project, and Rick Robinson, Founder of Cut Time Productions.

Tags: Robocalls  Indigo Girls  OST Full Show  classical music  diversity  Athens  Atlanta  Georgia