Abuse and silence in South Africa’s classical music culture: what a student’s story reveals

The first academic work published on abusive behaviours in South African classical music shows how the past shapes the present. Jacob McGowin/Unsplash When I interviewed a man I will call Charles as part of my research on classical music and abuse in South Africa, he shared a poem with me. He’d written it when he was studying music at university in South Africa. it is madness / this building / with its windows / cold and closed / so that not even the stale air can escape … with its countless…