If you’re working class, you’ve got little chance of a career in classical music | Letter

Diversity schemes that ignore class will keep mistaking a handful of border-crossers for structural change, says one reader, whose son was judged too privileged Symeon Brown’s argument that class is the elephant in the room in conversations about race ( Interview, 9 August ) is nowhere more visible than in classical music.

Celebrated black classical musicians held up as evidence of progress are very often solidly middle class: children of professionals who could afford the instruments, tuition, exam fees and travel that serious musical training demands.

Their success is real, but is mainly evidence that class opens doors.

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