After nearly two decades of teaching exclusively Western classical composers, Stockton strings instructor Darcy Ford set out to celebrate her own heritage.
As a Black artist, Ford knew the long history of African-American music was as important as it was undertold.
But three years ago, just as her dream of starting a Black-led orchestra was coming together, a devastating personal loss made her reassess its mission. What has emerged is Stockton Soul, a group intent on spreading the history of Black music while uplifting Black communities across the Valley with a positive mental health message.
Like many musicians, Ford started playing music at school. In the third grade, she picked up the violin and never looked back. She went on to study music at the University of the Pacific, and for the past 20 years has taught strings and spent the last decade working for the Lincoln Unified School District.
Yet, as a mixed race musician – whose parents were Black and white – she always felt a disconnect in her musical life. At home she grew up listening to soul, R&B, jazz and more. But in the classroom she only taught the classical standards written by white composers.
“So in my mind it kind of set up this duality that the music that I loved and that I enjoyed and that I listened to at home was not worthy of study and that I shouldn’t be playing it on my violin,” Ford said. “I mean, that was never explicit, but it was just implicit in that the only thing we studied was Western classical music, so that made me feel that my music wasn’t important.”
George Floyd protests helped spark idea for Black-led orchestra
Fast forward to the summer of 2020 and George Floyd protests, and something started to shift in her mind. More than ever she wanted to bring the music she loved to her community. Around that time she also met Jonathon Lee Ivy, a talented Black cellist and singer who had recently graduated with a music degree from Pacific.
She told him of her dream of forming a soul orchestra with Black musicians and other people of color performing and teaching from the canon of Black music. His enthusiasm about the idea helped jump start the project, she said.
Together, they began to create Stockton Soul, a diverse mix of classically-trained musicians playing Black American music, from Motown to R&B, blues to hip hop.
But as the group was coming together in late 2021, Ivy, who lived with depression, died by suicide. His death, at age 24, sent shock waves through his musical community.
At the time, the group had been rehearsing for its first official concert. Instead, Stockton Soul’s debut performance was at its co-founder’s memorial service.
Ford said that after Ivy’s death she felt derailed and wasn’t sure if the group should carry on. But after talking with other members, she decided to move forward, and expand their message.
New mental health message honors late group co-founder
Among those encouraging Ford to keep the group going was violinist and vocalist Jelani Brown, who was also friends with Ivy. Brown, who teaches orchestra at Stockton middle schools and popular songwriting at Pacific, said it was important to discuss Ivy’s life, death, and depression as part of their shows.
“A lot of times within the Black community we don’t talk about mental health,” he said. “For a long time, I don’t think mental health has been a priority for Black folks because (we) were always fighting for equality, right? It’s not often that we’ve had the time to sit back and say, ‘Okay, well, how is your heart, how is your mind?’”
The mental health challenges facing communities of color, particularly Black youth like Ivy, have only grown in recent years. According to CDC Wonder data, the suicide rate for Black Americans increased 58% from 2011 to 2021. CDC data also showed suicide to be the third leading cause of death for Black youth ages 15 to 24.
Brown said he has had his own struggles with depression, and that his family and friends have, too. One of the more powerful connections created through Stockton Soul, he said, is the sense of community and shared experience.
“You know me and John and Darcy, we all have that experience of being the minority in orchestra,” he said. “In those settings, often you didn’t play music by composers of color, let alone Black composers. And going to school at UOP, we were always just the one (Black) student in class, if that. So (Stockton Soul) was truly birthed out of that and wanting to find community amongst ourselves.”
Stockton Soul’s concerts are a vibrant mix of musical genres: soul, R&B, jazz, hip hop, rap, even spoken word. During performances, Ford said, the group uses its platform to illustrate the connection between the American civil rights movements and Black musical perseverance.
“(Black music) is part of the narrative of the United States of America,” Ford said. “Every major movement in Black music has come from some major social movement. We have slavery itself, coming out of that we have the spirituals and we have work songs and slave songs. And then all the root music on the plantations and that developed into jazz that developed into R&B and even country. Rock music comes from blues.”
Stockton Soul spreads historical importance of Black music
Stockton Soul has taken its message to schools, universities and community groups. Since 2021, it has performed shows at more than 20 schools in the Stockton, Lodi and Dublin areas.
In mid-November, the group performed as part of the long-running L’Chaim Concert Series from Congregation Beth Shalom in Modesto. Kate Trompetter, who with her husband David Rogers organizes the shows for the synagogue, said she was interested in Stockton Soul’s intertwined historical and mental health messages.
“The concert was fabulous, I can’t say enough about how much they came through, both putting on a show but also their message,” Trompetter said. “They had me crying at one point, and I danced my tail off all night long. The timing was certainly not intentional on our part, but it came at the end of a contentious election. So for many reasons our communities were feeling divided and uneasy. That added to the power of the evening.”
Trompetter said she heard nothing but raves after the concert, all the way from her own 11-year-old daughter to an 80-year-old attendee with a cane.
Stockton Soul continues to spread its musical message of determination and solidarity. Ford is still working to expand the group and add more musicians. She credits Ivy with helping her overcome her own internalized feelings of inferiority about the music she loved most.
“I love that the music and I love is a story of how Black people persevered and kept their dignity from the time they were enslaved until now,” she said. “They created this beauty that could not be kept down and squelched. To me it’s beautiful. It is our shared history.”
For more information on Stockton Soul or to book a concert visit stocktonsoul.com.
Free mental health support and suicide prevention services are available through the following sources:
988 Lifeline: 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available to call, text or chat 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365-days a year by dialing 988.
NAMI Helpline: The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers a free helpline available 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday by calling 800-950-NAMI (6264), text “HelpLine” to 62640 or email us at helpline@nami.org
The Trevor Project: LGBTQ+ youth crisis line is available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365-days a year by calling 866-488-7386 or texting “START” to 678-678.
Call Blackline: Offers peer support, counseling, reporting of mistreatment, witnessing and affirming for people most impacted by systematic oppression which prioritizes the BIPOC community by calling (800) 604-5841 or using the Call Blackline app for iPhone or Android.
Marijke Rowland is the senior health equity reporter for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a nonprofit newsroom which publishes The Merced Focus, in collaboration with the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF).