When the pandemic canceled concerts and postponed recitals, musician Brendan Slocumb had time to try something new. What resulted is a gripping mystery about a stolen violin and a dark family secret that threaten to thwart the dreams of classical violinist Ray McMillian.

Like Slocumb, Ray is African American. While writing Ray’s arduous path to success, Slocumb drew on his own experiences facing prejudice from colleagues and conductors, “They see your name on an application or they see you walk in and the decision is already made. If you performed poorly that would be one thing, but if you really did the work and it's just because of what you look like, that’s what really hurts.”

Brendan Slocumb will be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 21st. Details here.

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