Gen Z and young millennials' surprising obsession

Gen Z and young millennials' surprising obsession Esther Abrami, Getty Images A radical new wave of artists are sweeping the previously elite world of classical music – with a little help from Squid Game, Dark Academia and fashion. J Demetrie Nigerian-US baritone Babatunde Akinboboye sings "hip-hopera" – he initially became known for his rendition of Rossini blended with Kendrick Lamar Both Abrami and Akinboboye came to classical music in their teens, late by conventional standards, and cultivated their passion for the genre independently. "I always wanted to tie rock'n'roll and classical music together and put them in the same space, supported by literature and philosophy and other disciplines," she explains, adding that her next album, which she's making with pianist and former Bowie collaborator Mike Garson, will be a "Bowie meets Rachmaninoff" affair. "Sometimes you need classical music to touch the strings of somebody's soul – a pop song won't work." Michael Sharkey Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński wowed critics with his performance as Didymus in Handel's Theodora, which included a pole-dance Orliński agrees that classical music has achieved an "almost hipstery" status of late.