OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A violinist, known for viral videos that mix classical music with hip hop, brought down the house for students at the Nelson Mandela Elementary school in Omaha Monday.
Ezinma — also known as "Classical Bae" — has performed with Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Yo-Yo Ma and more, but on Monday the Lincoln-born artist offered the students some inspiration — and encouragement to stick with orchestral arts.
"Well, I think the biggest thing for me is visibility. I mean, playing classical violin as a non-white person is pretty rare. Black and brown people make up less than 4% of orchestras and I know that can seem really intimidating as a child to not see yourself represented. So, I think the biggest thing for me is to just be like 'Hey, I exist!'" said Ezinma.
She also conducted a workshop with the violin students at the school. The event was set up by String Sprouts, which provides free lessons for youth learning to play string orchestra instruments.
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