One of the things composer Anthony Barfield loves about New York is that when a guy in a dinosaur costume sits next to you on the New York subway, the question asked is, “What else? Is that all you’re going to do?” He’s the kind of person that gets excited by the world around him, the political moment, and music. But he doesn’t want people to be comfortable when he knows they’re ready for something better. His orchestral music draws on jazz, gospel, and hip-hop, as well as the Western classical tradition—a combination that isn’t often included or taken seriously in classical spaces. Now, however, that combination is not only an especially relevant approach to a world reckoning with systemic racism, it’s a sound he knows audiences, both inside and outside of the recital hall, are eager to hear.