TikTok and London’s Southbank Centre have announced Crescendo, a new accelerator program that aims to discover the next generation of classical music talent.
The program will support and elevate a select cohort of 10 U.K.-based creators passionate about classical music who are already making content about the genre on TikTok. The application to be part of Crescendo is now live here through Oct. 30.
The launch of Crescendo was celebrated on Tuesday morning at the Southbank Centre with a special performance from violinist and TikTok creator Esther Abrami (pictured above), who is on the panel of experts that will be selecting the inaugural cohort. Cellist and politician Baroness Thangam Debonnaire, the Southbank Centre’s head of classical music Toks Dada and Toyin Mustapha, TikTok’s head of music partnerships for U.K. and Ireland, will also review applications.
“With nearly a million TikTok posts under the #ClassicalMusic hashtag, which has increased by 60% on TikTok over the past 12 months, the genre is stepping beyond the concert hall and finding powerful new life online,” a press release states. “Whether they’re virtuoso performers, bedroom composers, remixing DJs, or superfans from non-traditional backgrounds, the program is seeking fresh and diverse voices ready to unlock classical music for 21st century audiences.”
The 10 selected creators will be invited to an event in January where they will have the opportunity to connect with each other. In addition, the cohort will gain free access to Southbank Centre concerts and rehearsals, exclusive behind-the-scenes content opportunities with the Southbank Centre’s Resident Artists and Orchestras, bespoke mentorship and platform training from TikTok on growing and engaging audiences, collaboration opportunities with TikTok and Southbank Centre digital teams and long-term involvement through the Southbank Centre’s Ambassador Scheme.
“There’s a phrase that I heard so many times when I was studying classical music, which is ‘young people do not like classical music.’ But then I thought, ‘Wait, I’m young. I love it. How come?’” Abrami said during a panel discussion at the launch event. “It’s music that gives you chills, it’s music that’s so powerful and I thought, it’s not fair that not everyone is actually experiencing that.”
Added Mustapha: “I think traditionally with classical music, it might have felt like it’s not something that’s relevant to some people because they think that everyone who plays it or composes it is dead. As a platform, what TikTok is able to do is open up new audiences … it’s a way for people to be able to relate to something that they might otherwise feel is not relatable to them.”
