Jonathan Bingham had just finished his work shift at an Apple Store in May 2021 when he saw the voicemail. He had been offered a commission as part of the Emerging Black Composers Project. Shocked, he went into the store’s changing area and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

Bingham had worked at the Apple Store since his days as a graduate student at New York University. After graduating in 2016, he juggled a full-time position there with a burgeoning composing career that included residencies at the Arapahoe Philharmonic and Boulder Symphony.

“Historically, composers of color have had a much harder time getting their music performed and workshopped,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, chair of the EBCP selection committee and the San Francisco Symphony’s resident conductor of engagement and education. “[The] project is an attempt to address some of that, and to provide points of access to young people from a community that has often previously been denied access.”