On today’s episode, we’re joined by violinist, writer, and cultural historian Rosalyn Story.
For more than 30 years, Rosalyn Story has performed violin with the Fort Worth Symphony — but her artistry doesn’t stop there. She’s also a novelist, a journalist, and a passionate keeper of Black musical history. Whether chronicling the legacy of opera trailblazers like Sissieretta Jones or guiding students through the soundscape of African American music, Rosalyn brings a rare kind of dual fluency — one grounded in both performance and storytelling.
In this episode, she shares how a $0.75 violin class in Kansas City sparked a lifelong passion, what it meant to be the only Black musician in the room, and how music — especially jazz — continues to sustain her in moments of grief and resistance.
It’s a conversation about resilience, reverence, and the many ways we remember who we are — through sound, through stories, and through one another.
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