One of the World’s Leading Classical Conservatories Enrolls First Rapper

Guildhall School of Music and Drama is home to over 800 full-time incredibly talented musicians and drama students. Forging a creative alliance for students with the London Symphony Orchestra it is no surprise that they're widely recognized as one of the world's leading music conservatories. What may come as a surprise from this "prestigious" and "prosperous" institution is their recent enrollment of a rapper. That's not a type, Guildhall School of Music welcomed a rapper to their school… if you're as dumbfounded as most, allow me to elaborate. 

Essentially, the cultural perspective of classical music is shifting, reflective of the evolution happening within the world of classical music itself. The fact that Guildhall enrolled a rapper to its Leadership Programme is not something to be overlooked. Until now, the closest connection Guildhall had to hip-hop was when former-student Dido collaborated with Eminem, so when the story broke that the institution responsible for training Bryn Terfel, Geoffrey Burgeon and (weirdly) Myleene Klass, would now be home to an MC from Haringey, everyone was naturally curious about how the hell that happened.

Like a lot of classic ideals, classical music is experiencing its own sort of twenty first century renaissance. Creative collaboration geared towards enticing and engaging younger generations is opening the doors for a broadening of classical music as we know it. It's taking a step away from its stereotypical straight-laced traditionalist into the world of fluid expansion and experimentation - as a music education graduate, I find that exhilarating & exciting.  

Personally, I applaud the Guildhall School of Music for their brave breakaway from the same old same old and can't wait to see what 25 year old Jack Derbyshire brings to the stage. 

Source: Noisey.Vice.com