It鈥檚 a good bet that you still love the music you listened to during your teen years.
That鈥檚 definitely the case with Stephen Spottswood, host of Classical 101鈥檚 seasonal program New Perspectives: From Bach to Biggie. He鈥檚 a classically trained violinist and a music teacher, but when he鈥檚 not fiddling on Bach or Beethoven, he鈥檚 playing electric violin covers of hip-hop and R&B songs that inspired him in his youth.
At a recent jam session on 星空无限传媒鈥檚 roof terrace, Spottswood fired up a backing track and let loose with a medley of hits by hip-hop stars Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z.
All the songs were released in the early 2000s and were topping the charts when Spottswood was in middle school and high school.
鈥淭hat was my teenage years, so it鈥檚 nostalgic,鈥� Spottswood said. 鈥淎nd Pharrell Williams鈥� music has a lot of melodic elements that just pair nice with the violin.鈥�
Spottswood鈥檚 violin croons on Williams鈥� hit single 鈥淔rontin鈥欌�� and on the Williams/Snoop Dogg single 鈥淏eautiful.鈥� The medley ends with some sizzling violin bowing in Jay-Z and Williams鈥� hit 鈥淕ive It 2 Me.鈥�
鈥淛ust songs to get people up movin鈥� and groovin鈥�,鈥� Spottswood said.
Moving and grooving is what some young Columbus music students did this summer during the 鈥檚 first annual Debut Strings camp. The week-long camp gave string players aged 9-16 a chance to hone classical playing technique on their instruments while playing hip-hop and R&B hits. The students鈥� final concert featured Spottswood鈥檚 arrangements of songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and other popular artists.
鈥淚鈥檓 able to write music that caters to the students鈥� skill level, so that it doesn鈥檛 sound gimmicky or corny, but it鈥檚 challenging for the students (and) also on their grade level for them to be able to learn how to bow, how to pluck, how to count,鈥� Spottswood said.
Since 2020, Spottswood has also taken his hip-hop string arrangements into school orchestra classrooms with increasing frequency. He created his Hip-Hop Strings Workshop in response to invitations he received from fellow Columbus-area string instrument teachers who wanted to give their students experience with a range of music that is culturally relevant today.
鈥淢ixing hip-hop into the orchestra classroom is fairly new in the past few years,鈥� Spottswood said. 鈥淵ou would never see orchestra directors playing hip-hop in the orchestra programs when I was a kid.鈥�
And that鈥檚 why Spottswood today strives to erase the traditional genre divide between hip-hop and R&B music and the classical orchestra. If an orchestra can play the classical masters, it can also play music by the stars of hip-hop, R&B, and rap.
鈥淲e have to herald Jay-Z the same way we hold up and honor Beethoven,鈥� Spottswood said. 鈥淲e have to think of them in the same light.鈥�
A new season of New Perspectives: From Bach to Biggie begins in September. Tune in Sundays at 1 pm on Classical 101.
