A01=Kristina Kolbe
Author_Kristina Kolbe
Category=AVLA
Category=JBFA
Category=JHB
cultural institutions
diversity discourses
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
multiculture
music production
race-making
White elitism
Product details
- ISBN 9781526198105
- Weight: 353g
- Dimensions: 216 x 140mm
- Publication Date: 23 Jun 2026
- Publisher: Manchester University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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What happens when the elitist space of ‘Western’ classical music seeks to diversify itself? And what are the social effects worked through diversity discourses in classical music institutions? The sound of difference addresses these concerns by critically examining how diversity work takes shape in a cultural sector so deeply implicated in hierarchies of class, structures of whiteness, and legacies of imperialism. The book draws from ethnographic and interview data to analyse how diversity discourses become constructed in the organisational and creative processes of music production. From rehearsal and performance practices to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector’s commitment to change, Kolbe reveals the institutional constraints and precarious labour relations that form around diversity work in classical music and skilfully considers what these processes can tell us about the remaking of class, race, and racism today.
Kristina Kolbe is Assistant Professor in Sociology of Arts and Culture at Erasmus University Rotterdam
