A profile of Kwame Ryan in The Guardian: "
"The young, British-educated conductor making his UK debut at the opening concert of the Edinburgh international festival this week said yesterday that he had 'no optimism for the future' for black children making it as the stars of classical music. Canadian-born Kwame Ryan, 34, went to school in Britain and studied music at Cambridge University before continuing his training in Germany.
"But the message given to young, black people, particularly in North America, was, he said, that you can be a star athlete; you can be a pop star. 'But neither of those require a special education. To be a conductor you have to start very young and the awareness that that is a possibility for black children is not encouraged in schools or in the media.'"