As Spotify drops their end-of-year playlists, classical music seems left in the dust with all the appreciation for the new and the young. But through a podcast, two Eastman students have built bridges between the worlds of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Kanye West.
Hosts Dalanie Harris and Katie Brown began “Classically Black” in November 2018. Harris, a senior majoring in double bass performance, acknowledged that classical music may seem inaccessible to those without a great understanding of the genre.
Despite her experience in classical music, Harris shared that she too has felt excluded and undermined in a predominantly white classical music culture built on centuries of elitism. Bringing these two concerns together, Harris and Brown started the podcast to create a far-reaching community for African-American musicians and combat exclusivity and inaccessibility in the classical music world.
Harris said audience members have described listening to the…
