How The Illharmonic's mix of hip-hop and classical builds community, one show at a time

Music How The Illharmonic's mix of hip-hop and classical builds community, one show at a time July 24, 20264:00 PM ET By  Juana Summers ,  Ashley Brown ,  Brianna Scott Kaleb Cabell, Andrea Coln McNeill and Jeffrey McNeill perform as part of The Illharmonic Orchestra at NPR's Washington headquarters. Brianna Scott/NPR hide caption toggle caption Brianna Scott/NPR Vocalist and composer Jeffrey McNeill says it was back in 1987, when he was still a kid, when he first started hearing the links between hip-hop and classical music. "I was put in flute and piano lessons as a child, and my father introduced me to The Sugarhill Gang, 'Rapper's Delight,'" McNeill explained in an interview with All Things Considered. "One day, my brother brought home the Beastie Boys' 'Paul Revere,' and to me, it sounded like it went perfectly with Beethoven's 5th Symphony." Nearly 40 years later, the marriage of those two genres — as well as McNeill's literal marriage to fellow artist Andrea Coln McNeill — are manifest in The Illharmonic Orchestra, which has booked shows in major concert venues across the country over the last two decades. Sponsor Message McNeill — who performs as "Thee Phantom" — and Coln McNeill — who is also known as "The Phoenix" — blend hip-hop and R&B vocals with live horns, woodwinds, strings and percussion, performed by all-Black orchestral ensembles. That representation in classical music performance is a key goal for the group's leaders. "It was really important for us to show that these two genres are not as completely different as people think they are," Coln McNeill told NPR's Juana Summers during a visit to NPR headquarters. "Even in 2026, some of the major symphony orchestras still are really lacking in diversity. But there's clearly a reflection that those individuals exist. We play with them all the time," she explained. "Folks who look like us, who play these instruments, who have the training, who have been to the conservatory, who have the P...