Rosalyn Story, Violin

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.