Guided Listening: Hip-Hop and Orchestra

Explore well-known works and discover new treasures of the musical repertory in our Guided Listening sessions with JoAnna Cochenet.

This year’s first Guided Listening topic explores the music of Hip-Hop with orchestra, as 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop in the US. Join us online to explore the history and basics of Hip-Hop itself and then see how it has been historically fused with classical orchestra music. Instead of listening to only one large work, we’ll discuss several shorter examples by different composers and performers. Some examples are included below to listen to ahead of the session, while others will be explored and explained together online.

Listening and Reading Samples

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx and gave rise to hip-hop on NPR
Miri Ben-Ari at the Apollo
Hip-Hop Violin
Stereotypes by Black Violin
Hip-Hop Violin Freestyle!
Lin Manuel Miranda at the White House Poetry Jam
The Notorious B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems ft. Mase and Puff Daddy