Jane Solomon ’83 executive produces a 2021 Academy Award–nominated documentary.

In the New York Times “Op-Doc” A Concerto Is a Conversation, the audience has a seat in Horace Bowers’ living room as he and his grandson, film composer and pianist Kris Bowers, share their extraordinary lives. 

“I’m very aware of the fact that I’m a Black composer, and lately I’ve been wondering whether I’m supposed to be in the spaces I’m in or supposed to have gotten to the point I’ve gotten to,” confides Kris, who’s earned prominence with his scores for the Oscar-winning Green Book, as well as Dear White People and When They See Us, among other projects.    

“Never think that you’re not supposed to be there because you wouldn’t be there if you weren’t supposed to be there,” replies Horace, who left the Jim Crow South at his first opportunity and built success owning a Los Angeles dry cleaning business (on a block that, in 2019, the city named Bowers Retail Square). “People are constantly throwing up things to stop you in life, but you’ve got to know, ‘You cannot stop me.’” 

This particular moment stands out to Executive Producer Jane Solomon ’83: “The perseverance that Horace was talking about … I think that really resonated with a lot of people,” she says.

The film, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at this year’s Oscars.

Personally, Solomon found some similarities in Kris’ musical upbringing and her own. Kris and Solomon both started playing piano at an early age — 4 and 5, respectively. They both grew up playing recitals, and they had the strong support of their families. 

“My mother was a musician; my grandfather was a big band leader in Milwaukee,” she explains. “So, the whole thing really hit home for me.”

Her interests also conjoined recently when she was the music adviser on the 2020 movie Stage Mother. But cinema is a relatively new undertaking for Solomon. It was actually a reconnection with fellow Colgate tennis player Rex Miller ’84, now a director, producer, and cinematographer, that inspired her enthusiasm. She supported his documentary Private Violence (2014) and coproduced another of his documentaries, Althea (2014). In addition, Solomon started attending Sundance Film Festivals, and it all culminated in her “wanting to support films that really impact people,” she says. 

An art history major, Solomon applied her visual background to her early career as a buyer at the May Company, working on product launches for brands like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Dior. Next, she became a project manager, starting with Avon and then joining an international gifts company. 

“The art classes I took at Colgate helped train my eye as I look at the screen. It’s interesting how it’s all coming together now,” Solomon says. She became involved with A Concerto Is a Conversation as a member of Chicago Media Project, one of the documentary’s production companies. 

“These two men … had such passion and tenderness,” she says. “This film captured that in 13 minutes.”