A Concerto Is a Conversation (Proudfoot & Bowers) 2020

The most important part of this film is the conversation, but the concerto serves as a jumping off point for the conversation to take place at all.

The conversation between co-director Erik Bowers and his grandfather Horace Bowers Sr. comes in the run up to Erik being the featured composer at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. When he sits down with his grandfather, he uncovers a family history that goes back to the Jim Crow south, winds through the mid-20th century when Horace negotiated life as a black business owner, and eventually led to Erik's achievement and recognition as a black composer today.

The film is important and hopefully spurs many young people today to have deep conversations with their own grandparents and parents about what things were like when they were young. We take a lot for granted about where the world is today, often forgetting that things were much different just a generation or two ago. By having these conversations, we can hopefully learn from the lessons of the past, and apply them to continue improving our society moving forward.

While the film is only 13 minutes long, I would be happy to have a much longer conversation like this in a feature length film.

9 out of 10​​​​

"A Concerto is a Conversation" is available on YouTube.

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